Who Controls the Knight?
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: With Jordan no longer in control of the Robo Knight, and such amazing power running wild unchecked, how long can it be until he comes to blows with his former team? And can they stop him before he causes too much harm?
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own the rights to Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be presumed to be purely the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T – may be some mild adult themes.

Noah arrived at the Wildlife Centre the following morning, nice and early. He had never really thought much about getting a part-time job before. Normally the allowance his parents gave him, together with the odd freelance IT repair he did for kids who seemed to have no understanding at all how their computers worked was sufficient, but he was quickly finding that his expenses were growing. Several new things had crept up on him without him noticing. Before, he only had a couple of science journals and the odd part or programme to buy. Every once in a while, he'd save up and actually buy a game for his computer, but the last few months, since he'd become a Ranger had been unusually expensive.

He and Jake were now hanging out at the Brainfreeze a lot more often, the whole team were, and not wanting to be left out, Noah tagged along to make sure he didn't miss any new developments with the team. He'd already had to buy a lot more components for experiments and new programmes for his computer when he needed to perform tech duties for the Rangers, stuff he couldn't just ask his parents to buy. They might not have understood a lot of his experiments, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have had questions when he wanted the components needed to make the plastique explosives he'd made when they went to destroy Vrak's lab.

His parents had been a little surprised when he said he had a job interview, but they seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it. His mom even commented that it would be good for him to get outside more often.

As the car pulled up outside the Wildlife Park, Noah folded away his laptop. Although he knew that Quinn had put in a good word for him, and that her boss had expressed an eagerness to meet him, he still wanted to be prepared. If he was honest, biology was his weakest science, not that that was saying much. He could easily, with a bit of work turn his studies towards a career in medicine, but he was always more interested in technology. He had spent most of the morning looking up all he could about the park, the species he might be dealing with...he wanted to be ready to answer any questions the park manager might have. Emily looked to him as he put his laptop in the bag.

"Well, we're here." He told her. "Thanks for the ride. I'm sure you want to get back to the others..."

"No, it's fine." Emily answered as they got out. "The others will have that covered; besides, I'd love to see what they have here. I've got a few chickens at my farm at home, but we're thinking of expanding."

"Well, I haven't heard of any farms with a Llama or an elephant." He chuckled. Emily just put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"They have a petting zoo Noah." She reminded him. "I was thinking it might be an idea to get advice on what kind of care goes into owning a goat. I think I could just about handle that just now."

"Well, I guess we're going in then." Noah stated as Emily started to head towards the gate. "Uh...Emily, you're double parked. You'll get towed."

Emily just whipped out her Samuraizer, and cast a little symbol, casting it at the car, which disappeared. Noah just blinked and looked around, finding no sign of it. He looked at her in surprise.

"Antonio showed me that one." She replied, blowing the end of her Samuraizer like a gun, before flipping it away. Noah just shook his head.

"Is there anything that Symbol Power can't do?" He asked her. Emily just pressed the buzzer, at which Quinn arrived at the gate. She smiled as she saw them.

"Hey, Noah you made it!" She blurted out as she opened the gate and waved them in. "Um...you're his friend aren't you...?"

"Emily." She responded, shaking Quinn's hand. "I'm a friend of the family. I just gave him a ride over."

"Well, Mr Evans will be waiting." Quinn said, grabbing Noah by the jacket and pulling him along. "He's just this way; he's just dealing with a little situation with the ostriches."

As Emily walked with them, a couple of paces behind them, she watched Quinn, observing her behaviour. She was sticking close to Noah, holding him by her side as she guided him through the Wildlife Park. Her uniform was remarkably clean for someone who probably spent a significant portion of her time dealing with animal poo, and if she wasn't mistaken, it was freshly pressed. She had washed and styled her hair. Emily had to stifle a laugh. As they headed past the first few bird enclosures, eventually they got to a large pen, which housed some Ostriches. There was a guy in the pen, wearing a set of red overalls, which had been pulled down and tied around his waist. He was wearing a black tank top, and had wild, slightly unkempt hair, which was tied back with a headband, and some dark stubble. He was seeing to one of the creatures, whispering to it as he checked on it. He looked over as Quinn called him.

"Mr Evans!" She called out, waving and pointing frantically to Noah. "This is Noah, the guy I was telling you about!"

"Excuse me a moment." He stated, before turning his attention back to the ostrich. He reached under its wing, pulling out a twig that had gotten tangled in its feathers. "There, that's better now isn't it?"

He dusted his hands off as he came over, and extended a hand to Noah.

"Hi, Cole Evans." He introduced himself. "I run the day to day stuff here in the park. Quinn's told me all about you. I...kind of feel like an interview's redundant."

Emily, who was checking on a nearby goat, had to stifle a laugh hearing this. She could imagine Quinn tailing Mr Evans around, singing Noah's praises to get his attention, hoping to get Noah the job.

"Well, I really appreciate you seeing me at such short notice." Noah answered. "Quinn said you need an extra pair of hands around here."

"We could always use the help." Cole assured him. "Petunia here's been acting up for days, she got caught up in a hedge after a fight with one of the other birds. I wouldn't have been able to see him if Quinn hadn't come in on her day off."

Emily made a mental note of this. It was Quinn's day off, and she had shown up anyway...on a day she knew Noah would be there!

"I didn't even ask, she just turned up." Cole told him. "She's a godsend around here. Quinn, Petunia's fine, she'll be a little sensitive, so just keep an eye out. I'll take Noah to the office."

He noticed Emily and gestured to her.

"A friend?" He asked. Noah just nodded.

"She came along for moral support." He answered. "She owns a farm..."

"A fellow animal lover!" Cole called over, offering Emily a hand. "Hi, I'm Cole."

"Em..." She tailed off as she finally got a look at him. She found herself breathless, seeing his face. He just looked at her. "Um...Emily."

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah...just...felt like I saw a ghost." She answered, finding the scene a little creepy. She felt like she was looking at Dekker, the man who had caused her and her friends so much pain across two long years. She knew it couldn't be, she had watched him age centuries and scatter into dust in the wind when his curse was broken. It was obviously pure coincidence this Cole guy happened to look just like him.

"Um...OK, I guess." Cole responded. "Quinn, I'm taking Noah to the office to interview him. Can you mind things out here?"

"Sure." She replied enthusiastically. "Good Luck Noah."

With that, Cole took Noah into the back. Emily just went to Quinn.

"So...I'm thinking of getting a goat for the farm." Emily told her. "Is there anything you could recommend for their care?"

"Sure thing." Quinn answered as she took Emily back over to the goat pen.

Meanwhile, in the woods, the rest of the Megaforce and Samurai team were training. It was something of a tradition that whenever a Ranger team came into another's town that they not only buy them a celebratory meal, but that they also train together, hoping to share some of their wisdom. It was a tradition that according to those they had met, had worked out for the best. Training was one thing, long runs, swimming, weights, even sparring were all great for keeping in shape and practicing technique, but there really was no substitute for the learning experience of real combat experience.

Jake hit the ground again, finding his arm being trapped in a harsh lock as Terry wrapped his legs around his neck, squeezing hard. He struggled for a moment, his face turning red, before finally deciding he couldn't escape and tapping his leg to signal a submission. Terry smiled as he let him go, and rolled backwards into a standing position.

"Go on, say it!" Terry said with a little smirk. Troy just helped Jake back to his feet, still coughing.

"Pink is a manly colour." He said sheepishly. Terry just threw his hands up in the air in triumph.

"Ha, what did I always say?" He asked. "It's easy to be all tough and everything when you're wearing a cool colour like red or blue or black."

He then turned back to Jake.

"It takes a real man to be a badass in pink." He teased him. Troy just stepped up as Jake accepted the lesson.

"He has a point there." Troy told him. "Alright, what do you guys have planned..."

"Wait, hold up." Antonio announced, holding up a hand. "I think you guys should hear this."

He turned up the radio as the others gathered around.

"...Thank you Erin, this is Edward Forrester, reporting live from the yard at the Underwood Waste Management facility, following up on this incredible story..."

"Um...what's so important..."

"Just listen." Antonio told them.

"Yeah, we were just out on the road, minding our own business, when he showed up." A voice on the radio said. "He just went berserk, attacked without warning!"

"Yeah, you can see what he did to our truck!" Another man stated. "He aimed that blaster straight at us, if he hadn't missed, we'd have been obliterated!"

"That blast tore our truck apart like it was tinfoil!" The first chipped in. "Eddie's going to be in the hospital for weeks! Broken ribs and a concussion! That guy's a menace!"

"Wait, what happened?" Gia asked. Her question was answered shortly afterwards.

"And there you have it folks, this is a Radio Harwood FM news exclusive. Once again, in an unprovoked attack, the Robo Knight severely injured and threatened to kill three innocent people."

"WHAT?" Troy, Jake, Gia and Emma all called out together.

"This incident has already lit up social media, sparking fierce debate among the entire community." The reporter stated. "In one tweet, RoboFan616 stated 'Robo Knight has fought for humanity alongside the Rangers for months. Obviously he's been brainwashed.' While others are not so sure. RoboSux13 has tweeted 'He destroyed a whole street, and a school already. See a pattern?' while there are others who are already pointing the finger of blame. 'Such power running around unchecked was always going to end badly. The Power Rangers should be arrested immediately' says PowerCorrupts. Whatever your view on the matter, one thing is clear. Until the Robo Knight is stopped, serious questions are being raised as to how safe we are with super powered individuals running around the city unchecked. This is Edward Forrester, signing off."

As Antonio switched off the radio, Troy and the others all looked around each other.

"You...you don't think that's true do you?" Emma asked nervously. "You don't think Robo Knight really attacked those men do you?"

"Let's face it, he hasn't exactly been the sole of discretion or control has he?" Jake asked. "Man, it was bad enough when Jordan was in control, now he's no longer at the wheel..."

"Not to mention that this isn't exactly making us look brilliant." Gia reminded them. "They see a guy in a suit, they think of the Power Rangers. Robo Knight goes off on a couple of guys in a truck, and now people are calling for us to turn ourselves in?"

"That can't happen." Jake responded. "Seriously, what good are we going to do the world if we're locked up?"

"Alright, there's no point in worrying about the what ifs of the debate right now." Troy stated. "For now, it's probably best we get to the bottom of this. We should go to the command centre and see if we can find out if Robo Knight really did attack those guys."

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Vrak or Malkor to try and frame us." Gia concluded. "After all, this is all going to be a hundred times harder if we have to worry about the citizens too."

"Look, sorry to do this, but we're going to have to cut this short." Emma said to the Samurai.

"We understand." Kevin assured her. "We had a little problem with one of our Zords once. We know what it's like having to bring that kind of power under control."

"Would you like us to stick around and help?" Lauren asked. "Kevin's got to get back to Mia, and Mike, Emily and Terry need to get back, but Antonio and I could stick around."

"No, it's fine. You've done more than enough to help us already." Troy assured her. "You have your own lives to live; we need to be able to deal with our own problems."

"Well, we need to wait on Emily and Noah getting back anyway." Lauren told him. "We'll come to the command centre at least. We may as well check out what the situation is."

"Gosei, have you heard...?"

Before he finished, in a blinding flash, all the assembled Rangers found themselves in the Command Centre.

"Something tells me he heard." Jake surmised. "Where are Noah and Emily?"

"I could not risk teleporting them, there are witnesses at their location." Gosei told them. "They will join you presently."

"So, what's going on?" Gia asked. "This attack..."

"I have footage from the location." Gosei told them. "I'm afraid that it is not good news."

He keyed up the footage, at which the Rangers all watched.

"The Quarry?" Emma asked. "They said they were on a road."

They watched as the truck started dumping. Emma just looked disgusted.

"They were illegally dumping garbage?" She asked. "The recycling centre's only ten miles from there!"

"Uh...not really the point." Jake told her as he pointed out the Robo Knight appearing on the screen. The Rangers all gathered around, watching as he threw one of the men into the side of the truck, where he stopped moving.

"OK, that must be the one that was injured." Gia surmised. Just then, they all jumped as he fired off a blast, which ruined the back end of the truck. They watched on as the men fled for their lives.

"Gosei, are you sure about this?" Troy asked him. "I mean...is it really...?"

"I'm afraid the power signatures do not lie." Gosei told him. "That was indeed the Robo Knight. Life signatures indicate that Jordan is inside the suit. That cannot be duplicated."

"So...the Robo Knight has gone completely insane." Jake sighed, throwing his hands up.

"Well...not necessarily insane." Antonio stated. "You said he reverted to his base programming right?"

"Yeah?" Gia asked.

"Well, he seeks to destroy threats to the planet right?" Antonio asked. "And those guys WERE polluting..."

"Yeah, that's logic." Emma said sarcastically. "I hate fly tipping with a vengeance, but seriously, trying to kill them? That's..."

"That's logic." Antonio interrupted her. "At least...it is to a computer."

"So what you're saying is his definition of a threat to the Earth..."

"Is more than a little broad." Antonio stated.

"Thank God he lives in a city that's won nationwide awards for environmentalism." Gia grumbled. "If we lived in Chicago, we'd be screwed."

"That does it, we need to find him and stop him." Troy declared.

"Yeah, but how?" Jake asked him.

"If he won't be reasoned with, then we're going to have to take him down the hard way." Troy answered.

"But...Jordan's in there!" Gia reminded him.

"What other choice do we have?" Troy asked in response, looking back to the screen. "If we don't bring him down, who else can?"

Meanwhile, at the park, some young men were sitting, enjoying the sunshine. They were kind of a raucous bunch, making a huge racket with their Boom Box, while they drank beer and laughed at people as they went about their day, enjoying themselves.

"Hey wheels, didn't anyone tell you? It's not 2002 anymore!" One of them called out as he threw a beer can, which lodged under the wheels. The skateboarder flew off the board, face-planting onto the concrete. The rest of them all laughed. "Skateboarding's out!"

"At least I'm not some loser getting drunk off his ass at ten in the morning." The skateboarder replied grumpily as he gathered up his board and left. Others were already giving the group a wide berth.

As one of them tossed a can over his shoulder, he reached for another can. He spat out some beer as the can hit him on the back of the head.

"What the hell?" He snapped. "If you think that's funny Skater..."

He stopped as he saw the Robo Knight behind him. One of the others threw down a cigarette and stomped it out.

"Pick it up." He demanded.

"What?" One of the four guys asked ignorantly. Robo Knight just stepped forward.

"Your trash." Robo Knight stated, looking around at the discarded cans and cigarettes. "Pick it UP!"

"You forgot to say please." One of the guys replied, stepping forward and pouring a can over his head. The others just laughed. "Go screw yourself Ranger, we..."

Before any of them knew what was happening, Robo Knight had grabbed the guy by the seat of his pants and the scruff of his neck, and dumped him head first into the nearest trash can.

"Whoa dude!" One of the others yelled. "What the hell...?"

Robo Knight just grabbed him and launched him into the air several feet, only to come crashing down on the ground a good distance away. He then picked up their Boom Box, and crushed it to smithereens in his hands.

"Whoa, dude, calm down!" One of them stammered out in panic as his friend tried frantically to help the other out of the trash can. "We'll...we'll clean up!"

"See that you do." Robo Knight answered, bringing out his Robo Blade. "I don't expect to find a single piece of trash in the whole park."

"Wait...what?" One of them demanded. "The WHOLE PARK? That'll take..."

"Dude, I don't think he's joking." One of the others interrupted him. "We'll do it, just please...don't hurt us!"

"I'll be watching." Robo Knight warned them, placing the point of his Robo Blade into the ground and folding his hands on the handle as they ran off to begin their task.


	2. Confronting a Friend

Noah was in the office with Cole, going through the motions of the interview. Well, he was going through it in his own unique style. Just like everything else in his life, Noah had gone into the interview prepared. A little too prepared if Cole was honest. Noah had spent so much time researching the park, the company that owned it, the subsidiaries, the staff, the species he'd be likely to deal with...Cole ended up not asking much in the way of questions. Any time he did, Noah seemed to go on and on for several minutes, like he could write a whole essay on the subject. Cole was starting to get the impression that with what he knew, he could already write a whole dissertation on the entire park, and if he had longer than a day to prepare...he could probably write a complete workup of the entire place.

"OK, OK, that's enough Noah." Cole chuckled. "I think twenty minutes is enough to prove you know about inset feeding habits."

"S...sorry, I just get carried away." Noah replied sheepishly. "I just wanted to demonstrate that I'm taking this really seriously. I don't like to go into anything unprepared. I don't want to come in and have other people carry me. If I'm on a team, I want to be an equal."

"You remind me a lot of a friend I had back in Turtle Cove." Cole replied with a smile. "Well, nothing really prepares you for working with animals, but from the amount of work you've done just for this interview, I can see that if there's anything you don't know, you're certainly willing to learn."

"I am Mr Evans sir." Noah assured him. Cole just laughed.

"Please, call me Cole." He answered. "Only Quinn calls me Mr Evans. I've told her not to, but she just does it anyway. I've given up trying."

"Uh...OK Cole." Noah replied. "Wait, if you're telling me what to call you, does that mean...?"

"Congratulations, you start tomorrow." Cole told him, shaking his hand. "Come in at 6 AM for orientation. We'll get you fitted for a uniform. Just a warning, this job gets messy. You will get dirty, and I pretty much guarantee you WILL be bitten or scratched a few times..."

"Thank you Mr...Uh...Cole!" Noah rushed out, shaking his hand enthusiastically. "You have no idea..."

Just then, his morpher bleeped. Noah's hand reached back, and he looked to Cole.

"Uh...that'll be my uncle...Tensou." Noah lied to his new boss. "He's kind of housebound at the moment, and he likes to know what's going on."

"Well, I think we're done here." Cole told him. "Just give your measurements to Quinn on your way out. She'll make sure we have a uniform for you for tomorrow."

As he left the office, Noah ran towards the goat pen, where Emily and Quinn were standing, talking. Emily was taking notes as Quinn relayed information on caring for a goat to her. Noah arrived by her side.

"Emily, we have to go." Noah told her. "Uncle Tensou had one of his...moments."

"Oh, right." Emily replied, looking to Quinn. "Thanks for the advice; it'll come in really handy."

"Anything I could do to help." Quinn answered as Noah gave her a note. "What...?"

"It's measurements for my uniform." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for everything."

"Any time." Quinn called out as he and Emily ran off. She placed her hand on the spot that he had placed his hand, feeling that it was still warm, and grinned dreamily. Cole came out of his office and saw her.

"Quinn, would you mind going to the store room and looking out a uniform for Noah?" He asked. Quinn just continued to stare off into space, at which he waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Hello, Quinn?"

"Oh...sorry, what was that?" Quinn asked.

"A uniform for Noah?" He reminded her. "I think his parents would appreciate him not getting animal poo all over his clothes."

"Sure, I'll get right on it." She answered. Cole just watched her go and shook his head, chuckling to himself.

Noah and Emily teleported into the Command Centre once they had made sure no one was watching. They found the others gathered around the viewing screens as they arrived.

"OK, what's going on?" Noah asked.

"It looks like Robo Knight's taking his mission to save the Earth a little too seriously." Jake informed him. "Last night, he attacked a truck full of guys illegally dumping waste in the quarry. He put one of them in hospital and totalled their truck."

"What?" Noah quizzed him in disbelief, pushing his way to the front.

"Guys, this is just coming in!" Emma told them. "Some guy just uploaded this footage from his cell phone to the Harwood Courier website."

Both teams crowded around, squashing Emma somewhat as they struggled to get a look in.

"Uh...personal space?" She stated. "Breathing is an issue."

"OK, that is...OK, that's not good." Lauren stated as she saw the attack on the litter louts at the park. "Wait, is he...forcing them to clean up?"

"I appreciate the sentiment." Emma chipped in. "But the way he threw those guys around..."

"Yeah, that's going to do our public image a lot of good." Jake added.

"Guys, check this out." Noah stated, pointing to a link. "This is past footage, but here...it says there's a live feed."

He clicked the link, and they all watched as the Robo Knight stood in the middle of the park stood watching the men he had attacked only minutes before cleaning up the park. He stood with his sword drawn, clearly intimidating the humans into their task.

"Right, for once we know where he is." Troy stated. "We need to get down there."

"Do you want us to go with you?" Mike asked.

"No, this is our problem." Troy answered. "If nothing else, there's no reason you guys should get tarred with our brush. If you're seen out there with him...people might end up resenting you too."

"There's no reason for people to hate you too." Jake agreed. "You should see some of the tweets about us. People actually want to arrest us, some want to sue!"

"Yeah, getting sued kind of sucks." Lauren replied. The Megaforce team all looked at her. "It's a long story."

"Right, let's get out there." Troy stated, bringing their attention back to the task at hand. "Gosei, can you teleport them home?"

"Mike, Lauren and I will hang around for a bit." Emily told them. "Terry, you Antonio and Kevin need to get back. My parents can mind the farm for a little while longer."

"Fine, just let Tensou know if you need anything." Troy replied. "Ready guys?"

"Go Go Megaforce!" They all chorused together, activating their morphers.

Back at the park, the litter louts were starting to grow tired. Between the amount of beer they'd drunk, and the harsh sunlight of the heatwave that seemed to never end, they were starting to slow up and struggle. Robo Knight just looked to one of them as he put some paper into the trash can. There were a few people gathered to observe the scene. Some of them were filing it, hoping to make a quick buck selling the footage to the media, others were just people who were fed up with the group acting out and spoiling the day for everyone else, and were gathered to mock them as the Robo Knight gave them what some saw as their just desserts.

"Come on man, how long do we have to keep doing this?" One of them asked, cradling one of his arms to his abdomen as he used the other to dump some paper into the trash.

"If you want to be spared, you will clean up the park!" Robo Knight declared.

"Spared?" Another asked incredulously. "My back's killing me after being in that trash can! I think you broke my buddies' arm...!"

"Are you saying you will not clean up your mess?" Robo Knight asked in response.

"We cleaned up OUR mess ages ago!" One of them snapped. "This stuff...this is just ridiculous!"

"You WILL comply!" Robo Knight put down flatly. "Or you will face the consequences!"

"You know what? Screw this, we're outta here!" One of them put down petulantly as they turned to leave. Robo Knight levelled his sword over his shoulder, millimetres from his face.

"Enemies of the Earth." He declared as they turned back around. He raised his arm up to strike, causing all of them to cower in terror. He was only stopped from striking as Noah unloaded his Shark Bowgun into his chest, sending him staggering away. The punks took the opportunity to run.

"YOU!" Robo Knight boomed as he saw the others. "Gosei's chosen defenders!"

"Leave them alone Robo Knight." Troy demanded.

"They poison the Earth. They hold no respect for their world!" Robo Knight stated. "They are Enemies of the Earth!"

"So they deserve to die?" Jake demanded.

"Don't bother Jake, look at the visor." Noah told him, pointing to the red visor. "The programme's in control. There's no reasoning with him."

Robo Knight scanned, finding his targets gone. He looked back to the Rangers.

"You stand in my way." Robo Knight declared. "You stand with the enemy, you are the enemy."

With that, he rushed towards them, taking them each down in short order with his Robo Blade. Troy was the first to regain his feet.

"Alright, the time for reason's long since passed." Troy told them, summoning his Dragon Sword. "Alright, you've given me no choice!"

From a vantage point a little way off, Vrak watched on with interest. Seeing the Rangers and the Robo Knight in battle, he smiled.

"Now, this is an interesting turn of events." He mused. "It seems that my theory was correct."

He had been observing the Robo Knight for a while. He had seen a stark change in him during the campaign against The Brotherhood. When the Rangers had been at their lowest point, when things looked their most hopeless, the Robo Knight had turned into an uncaring, destructive weapon of mass destruction. He had unleashed power that he hadn't dared to since he had first shown up. Vrak knew very little about him, but he did know that when the human inside him had started to take hold, he had shown a lot more restraint. He still had his moments, but he certainly hadn't laid waste to an entire street since then.

Now though, something seemed to have regressed him back to his original state. The Rangers had shown up because he was about to attack humans for their part in poisoning the world. It was too good an opportunity to miss.

"Let's keep this going a little longer shall we?" He asked, waving a hand. A legion of Loogies appeared in the park, swarming all around.

"Oh great, that's all we need!" Jake grumbled.

"Keep the Loogies off those bystanders!" Troy called back as he locked blades with the Robo Knight. "I'll keep him busy!"

The others all split off, fighting with the foot soldiers, leaving Troy to deal with Robo Knight. He spun away before his opponent could use his greater strength to overpower him.

"Victory Charge!" Troy called out, activating a Power Card. He channelled all his power into the blade, setting it ablaze, and rushed the Robo Knight. Their blades collided once in a blinding flash, but spinning underneath it, Troy brought it up across Robo Knight's breast plate, flipping him backwards onto the ground. He was about to bring the blade down, but his opponent rolled out of the way and back to his feet. Slamming a fist into the ground, he caused it to shake and spit with enough force to cause Troy to lose his footing.

Robo Knight prepared a Power Card of his own, converting his sword back into the Robo Blaster, and attaching the Vulcan Bullet. As he levelled it at Troy, the Red Ranger felt his heart stopping still in his chest. He had seen the devastation it could cause. He had seen it laid waste to a whole street, destroy the most powerful of monsters, annihilate legions of enemies...his suit offered protection, but knowing how powerful that weapon was, he couldn't imagine that a point-blank blast would find much resistance from his suit. At this range...he watched as the Robo Knight started to squeeze the trigger, tensing up as he prepared for the end.

It didn't come though. Troy dared to open his eyes in time to see the Robo Knight shaking his head, his one free hand straying to his helmet. His visor was starting to flicker between red and black.

"Jordan?" He asked quietly. He got to his knees. "Jordan!"

The Robo Knight's grip faltered and his blaster fell to the ground. He grabbed the sides of his helmet and screamed out as he fell to his knees. His visor was now a blur, flicking between red and black frantically. Troy approached him and reached out.

His wrist was grabbed in a powerful grip, and he quickly found himself on his back a little way off. The Robo Knight gathered up his blaster, and turned into his flight mode, basting off. Emma ran to Troy's side as they finished off the last of the Loogies.

"Troy, are you alright?" She asked.

"I'll live." He responded as she helped him up. Jake and the others gathered around.

"OK, that didn't go at all how we wanted." Jake stated.

Just then, he felt something hit the side of his helmet, and looked down, seeing a discarded can. Just then, Noah, then Gia also got hit by flying trash. They looked up to see some of the assembled citizens throwing insults and garbage their way.

"What the...?" Jake started to say, before something else hit him. He just recoiled in disgust. "Is that...is that a pooper scooper bag? Seriously?"

"Forrester's right, you're a menace!" One of the citizens screamed. "We all saw that!"

"You saw what? Us saving your asses?" Jake demanded.

"Jake..."

"They threw a turd at me!" Jake interrupted Troy angrily.

"You only showed up because that buddy of yours went on a power trip!" Someone else screamed.

"Didn't you see, they were fighting AGAINST him?" Someone else protested. "They were saving us from him!"

"If you ask me, it's all just a show!" Someone else stated. "I have a licence for my car and my gun; we don't even know who these people are! They could just wipe out the city and we couldn't do anything to stop them!"

"Get real, they're heroes! How many times have they saved the city, now you think they're just going to turn around and start destroying everything?" Someone yelled Gia looked through the crowd hearing the voice, and could only gulp as she saw that it was Cat. She knew that Cat often went through the park on the way to her shift at the Brainfreeze, she must have seen the commotion and come over. "I'm sure something's just wrong with Robo Knight, they're probably trying to fix him!"

"There's a simple way to fix all of this." A large man stated as he forced his way to the front. "Take off your helmets!"

"Uh..."

"You see! If they've nothing to hide, why aren't they letting us see who they are?" He demanded.

"I'm sure they have families, people they want to keep safe." Cat said, casting a quick glance to Gia.

"What do you know pipsqueak?" The man demanded, pie-facing Cat to the ground. Gia was about to go for him, only to have Emma and Noah hold her back.

"You're a big man shoving a kid!" One of the pro-Ranger men stated, shoving him roughly. "Want to try that with me?"

He connected with a savage hook, shortly before a mass brawl broke out. Gia struggled against Noah and Emma's grip as she saw Cat cowering on the ground. A nearby kid, who was holding a Yellow Ranger action figure, snapped off its head and threw it at Gia, rebounding it off her visor.

"Come on guys, this isn't doing any good." Troy told them.

"What, you want us to leave this?" Jake asked him. "They're..."

"We're doing more harm than good hanging around." Troy interrupted him. "Maybe things will calm down a bit once we go."

Gia didn't want to leave, but seeing Cat had the sense to crawl out of the brawl and run, she finally relented to Troy's thinking.

"He's right." She sighed. "Come on."

With that, they teleported back to the Command Centre.

Meanwhile, on the Warstar Flagship, Vrak had relayed his news to Admiral Malkor. The Admiral seemed more than pleased with this turn of events.

"So, the Rangers are fighting among themselves now." He commented.

"It appears so." Vrak stated. "You know, while studying humans, I found a fascinating fact about them. At one time, they used animals as instruments of war."

Admiral Malkor just glared at him.

"They would tie burning torches to a pig, and fire it with a catapult into an enemy fort. When the creature landed, it would run around chaotically, setting fire to the whole fort."

"So, you're suggesting..."

"Our mistake was trying to control the Robo Knight." Vrak interrupted him. "Perhaps we should just set the pig loose and see the destruction it causes?"

"And while the Rangers deal with him, they will be unable to dedicate their full attention to us." Malkor replied in understanding.

"He has already shown a predilection for showing up at the site of pollution. He has already attacked some people for minor waste dumping." Vrak told him. He then turned the screen to an image. "How do you suppose he'll react to some real pollution?"

"I have just the monster in mind." Malkor assured him. "Let it be done."


	3. The Edward Teach

Emily, Mike and Lauren were waiting in the Command Centre as the others returned. The others had been teleported home, but had only been convinced to do so when Lauren assured them they'd be called back if they were needed. So far, Troy was trying to keep the Samurai out of it. They actually had a good public image, there were still stores selling merchandise all over Panorama City. The Mayor had even declared a city wide holiday for the day of their victory over Xandred, and had promised it would be an annual event. The last thing anyone wanted was for the Samurai to tarnish their image by being seen to support the Megaforce team.

Jake and Gia were both fuming as they came back. None of the Megaforce team were especially happy about the way roughly half the city had turned on them, they were even less happy about the fact that realistically, there wasn't much they could do to defend themselves against it. No one wanted to hear from them, and without revealing who they were, there was no way they could explain what was going on.

Gia had another reason to be angry. Cat had tried to talk to the haters, she had tried to suggest to them that the Robo Knight's behaviour might not be his fault. In the end, she had once again found herself being hurt through her relationship to Gia. She had ended up stuck in the middle of a brawl as pro and anti Ranger sides let their fists do the talking. They had only left because their presence only seemed to enflame the situation. She hadn't even been able to stick around long enough to make sure Cat was alright.

"God dammit!" Jake roared as he paced the room. "Can you believe that shit! We've been saving their assess all year, and now...they're throwing shit at us!"

"Jake..."

"I mean, I know people are upset, they've got a right to be but that guy threw a shit! An actual honest to God SHIT!"

"I have to admit, that whole thing was pretty brutal." Noah replied sadly.

"At least you didn't get your likeness decapitated." Gia answered, slamming the broken action figure down on the table. She didn't really know why she had kept it, but when a kid had broken her action figure, something she had clearly loved, and threw it at Gia, it was hard not to take it personally.

"Listen guys, this isn't going to do us any good." Emma reminded them. "Seriously, for now, all we can do is focus on the main problem."

"You mean the fact that there's a WMD walking around there threatening to kill everyone that throws a piece of trash on the sidewalk?" Jake asked her. "Those guys were assholes, I could tell that as soon as I arrived, but seriously..."

"I think there's still a chance." Troy told them. "I think...I think Jordan's still fighting for control."

"What?" Lauren asked as she came over towards him. "That's a pretty big...are you sure?"

"There was a moment, when I was fighting him. He hesitated when he was about to blast me." Troy explained as the others all looked towards him intently. "He could have taken me out. He had me dead to rights, but he didn't pull the trigger."

"So, you're basing this purely on the fact he DIDN'T reduce you to a pile of ash?" Jake asked him.

"It's more than that." Troy said, trying to think how to explain it. It seemed like a lot longer, but in reality, it had probably only taken a few seconds. He had seen Robo Knight drop his blaster, like he didn't want to have it in his hand in case he couldn't stop himself firing. He had seen him grabbing at his head, like he was trying to remove his helmet. He had seen him fall to his knees, like he was fighting with himself, demanding that he lay down his arms rather than risk hurting his team mates any further. "His...his visor changed. Just for a moment, he changed...Jordan was in control. He didn't fire because Jordan wouldn't let him."

"Troy, we all want that to be true, we all want Jordan back." Emma told him. "I've never doubted any of your calls as leader but this is our lives we're talking about. I nearly lost you today. If you tell me you're sure about this..."

"I'm sure of it." Troy told her. "I have a feeling that Jordan's still fighting. If that's the case, we have to keep trying too."

"Wait, a lot of that makes sense." Noah told them as he pulled up a computer file on his console. "Guys think about it. What's been happening since Robo Knight went on his little...crusade?"

"Well, he blew up that truck." Gia commented.

"But not in a way that stopped it working. The dumpers said they drove away in it!" He reminded her. "He hospitalised that guy he threw into the truck, but he missed his shot...at POINT BLANK RANGE!"

He called up the footage of the incident, replaying the end of it in slow motion. They all watched as Robo Knight pulled his aim over the heads of the men he was aiming at. They then watched as he fell to his knees, clutching at his head. Troy paused the footage.

"That's...that's exactly what happened when he fought me." Troy told them.

"Also, think about those guys he pulled up for littering in the park." Noah continued. "He could have obliterated them in seconds, but he didn't! Instead, he forced them to clean up!"

"Jordan stayed his hand." Gia surmised. Noah nodded.

"Well, when the Bull Zord was first released, it took us a while to convince it..."

"No, that's not what I'm getting at." Noah interrupted Lauren. "I think...I think more damage was done to the Robo Knight's programming than we thought."

"Great, like we don't have enough problems." Emma sighed. "What do you mean Noah?"

"I don't think it's programming is complete anymore. I think that it is repairing itself, but it no longer has a complete programme, that some of it was erased by the attempt to hack it."

"So, that's a good thing isn't it?" Gia asked. "You know, that it isn't as strong?"

"Well, that depends. Its programme is designed to repair itself." Noah continued. "But if it doesn't have the components to repair itself, then maybe it'll seek them out...wherever it can."

"You mean...?"

"I think that Robo Knight is trying to use Jordan's brain, his memories, his synaptic functions to repair its damaged programming." Noah told them. "Which means that until this is sorted out, Jordan's mind and the Robo Knight's base programme are just getting smashed together, collapsing in on themselves."

"So, like...they'll become one?" Jake asked. "It'll be kind of like a Robo Jordan?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Noah told them. "I don't know if Jordan's mind can support them both. It's possible neither will be able to support the strain and..."

"It'll all break down." Troy interrupted him. "We could lose both of them."

"So what do we do about it?" Mike asked.

"If the Robo Knight's technology is dangerously damaged, then only Eltarian technology can bring him back to full function." Gosei declared.

"And bring Jordan back." Gia chipped in.

"He must be brought here." Gosei declared. "Once he is in the main chamber, I will do the rest."

"OK, so how exactly are we supposed to bring him here? Invite him for tea and biscuits?" Jake asked.

"Um...that's a thing, does that guy even eat? He hasn't been out of that suit in days." Mike commented. "What I want to know is how does he...?"

"The suit relies on its host body to exist, it'll make sure he survives." Noah cut Mike off. "But that is a good point. How do we get him here?"

"Not easily, but it's the only chance we have." Troy interjected. "Now Vrak knows about this, I think it's only a matter of time before..."

Just then, there was an alarm. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Just once can't we get a break?" She grumbled. The viewing screen turned to the ocean. Everyone just looked a little confused.

"Um...OK, what's the deal?" Gia asked. "Did Malkor decide to give one of his monsters swimming lessons?"

"Oh God." Emma stated as she saw a ship coming into view. "That's...that's the Edward Teach!"

"Uh...what?" Gia asked her.

"Seriously, don't you ever listen to me?" Emma asked her.

"I try not to." Gia said as she watched the screen.

"It's an oil tanker!" Emma explained. "It's been a hot topic on all the environmental newsletters and message boards! They're bringing it into Harwood harbour! It's the first time they've ever done it, all the protest groups have been up in arms about it!"

"There's an energy signature nearby." Troy stated. "Damn it, if Vrak attacks that, it'll be..."

"A disaster!" Emma shrieked. "Harwood Harbour's full of animals! If that thing spills, it'll be devastating!"

"And if Robo Knight starts busting heads over a few cigarette ends, he'll completely lose it if that thing spills!"

"Great, that's just what we need." Noah grumbled. Lauren stepped forward and stood before Troy.

"Your team will need you out there. Just get the Robo Knight here." Lauren assured him. "If there's anything else needing to be done, we'll handle it."

"Yeah, no one's going to see us here." Emily reminded him. "No one knows where this place is."

"Fine, then we know what we have to do." Troy told the others. "All of you deal with the monster, I have an idea."

Meanwhile, out on The Edward Teach, the crew were working frantically to ensure things ran smoothly. The captain was at the wheel, checking his instruments as he prepared for the final approach.

"The coast guard have been on the radio." His radio operator informed him. "They said there's a heavy protest presence at the harbour, but the police have things under control."

"I really hope that they do." He replied in a thick, English accent. "It'll be difficult enough bringing this thing into harbour without a bunch of NIMBYs making it harder than it need to be."

"NIMBY sir?" One of them asked. The captain just smiled.

"Not in My Back Yard." He explained. "It's an expression. It's amazing how many people object morally to something, but only if it affects them or the area they live in. I'm sure half the people protesting today don't refuse to gas up their cars on a point of principal."

Just then, there was a blast, and the cabin shook violently. Men fell from their stations as the Captain struggled to retain his balance.

"What...what was that?" One of them asked.

"There are no other vessels on the radar sir." One of the others called out. "There are no aircraft either."

"Uh...sir? Look!" The radio operator called out, looking through the window. He pointed up to the sky.

Flying over the ocean, a large, black form was rushing towards them. At first, they couldn't see what it was, but as it fired another blast, they could tell it wasn't friendly.

"What the hell is that thing?" The Captain demanded as he resumed his position at the wheel.

"It must be one of those aliens the news keeps going on about." The Radio Operator told him. "It's coming straight for us!" Everyone ducked as another blast rang out, this time blowing out all the windows and shearing the roof straight off the control room. The monster landed on the deck, releasing Vrak from its grip as it did so.

It was almost ten feet tall, and about four feet wide, with a shiny, black carapace. It had four arms which ended in wickedly barbed claws, and its head had a couple of massive horns coming from it. Its mandibles snapped menacingly.

"Scaraban, you know what to do." Vrak told him. The massive creature aimed a blast at the deck, sending metal flying. It started to claw into it, burrowing downwards as it sent down blasts.

"He's...he's going to scuttle the ship!" One of the men screamed.

"Then stop him!" The Captain answered, throwing him a shotgun. He turned the speed up to full.

"Sir, what are you doing?" The Radio operator shrieked.

"We can't let that thing sink the ship!" He stated. "The only way we'll get help is to get into port quickly!"

"But sir...there's no space to stop!" The radio operator reminded him as the rest of the crew started running down to the deck to try and stop Scaraban and Vrak from scuttling the ship.

"I was in the Royal Navy for years. Her Majesty's Navy never went into harbour at half speed!" He called back. "Now, just try and hold that thing up as much as you can!"

As the rest of the crew got down to the deck, they tried to drive off Scaraban in any way they could, but it was useless. His thick, strong carapace repelled all attacks. Even the shotgun didn't even faze him. Vrak used his lance to start smashing the crew away from his monster.

"Here, if you want to play so badly, have some playmates!" He stated, bringing forth some Loogies, who began attacking the men, throwing them overboard.

Just then, the Rangers teleported onto the deck, and immediately got to work. Troy saw Scaraban clawing through the deck and immediately rushed towards him, bringing out his sword.

"Remember guys, there are thousands of tons of oil under our feet!" Troy called back. "No energy weapons!"

"Great, that makes things so much easier!" Noah complained as he called forth his Shark Bowgun, but found himself restricted to using it as a bludgeon. Both of his weapons were energy weapons, meaning he really didn't have many options.

Emma was in exactly the same position, using her Phoenix Shot as a battering ram to rush some Loogies and send then tumbling overboard.

"Hey Vrak, causing an oil spill? That's pretty low, even for you!" Jake stated as he and Gia attacked him, keeping him away from Troy as he rushed Scaraban. He slammed the Dragon Sword into him, but only staggered him a little way, but he immediately returned to his task.

"Damn it!" Troy yelled as he started hammering into him with his sword. "His armour, it's too strong!"

"Wait...is that...SHIT, that's the Captain!" Noah yelled as he saw some Loogies had gotten into the cabin and grabbed the Captain. He tried to get over to him, but could only watch as he was thrown overboard. "Guys, we've just lost the Captain!"

"That's the harbour!" Gia added as she fell into the restraining wall. "We're going too fast!"

"Everyone hold on!" Troy instructed them as he saw the harbour rushing towards them.

On the harbour, the workers and protesters fled as they quickly realised the ship wasn't stopping. It slammed straight into the harbour, sending debris flying and tearing open the hull. The Rangers were thrown onto the deck as it finally came to rest. A fire broke out on the deck, which started to spread out over the rest of the harbour.

"That...that was brutal." Jake stated. "The whole place is going up!"

Just then, they all heard the distinctive sound of jets. Looking up, they saw the Robo Knight soaring towards them.

"Great, that's all we need!" Emma yelled. "He's going to go ape shit when he sees this!"

He flew down, changing into his robot form, before slamming onto the deck on one knee. He stood up, and started to stride towards them through the flames, his visor blazing red more brightly than before. He faced down the Rangers, Vrak and Scaraban.

"Enemies of the Earth!" He declared, pulling out his Robo Blade. "You have poisoned the planet for the last time! All of you will be destroyed!"


	4. Troy's Plan

The Robo Knight strode forward, straight through the flames as the Rangers watched on.

"Um...OK, did he just lump us in with them?" Jake asked, flicking a thumb in the direction of Vrak and Scaraban.

"I think he did." Noah stated as they all started to back up slowly. "We...we failed to stop them spilling the oil. He must have decided that makes us as bad as them."

"Yeah great logic there." Gia responded. "He wasn't even here! Where does he get off judging us?"

"Look around Gia." Emma responded, gesturing to the ruined dock, which as a result of the oil was quickly becoming engulfed in a massive inferno. "He's not thinking about who is or isn't responsible!"

Robo Knight rushed through them all, attacking left and right. He slashed out with his Robo Blade, making no distinction between the Rangers or Vrak and his latest monster. The Rangers fought as hard as they could to stop themselves being obliterated, but the Robo Knight fought with more ferocity than they had ever encountered. Before long, everyone was on the ground, with the exception of the Robo Knight.

"This isn't working." Gia stated. "We can't treat him with kid gloves."

"But Jordan's in there." Emma reminded her.

"Yeah, he's in there." Jake stated. "In the big armoured suit that can take having a building dropped on him!"

"Troy, you said you've got something in mind." Noah stated. "If there was ever a time, this is it!"

"Emma, take this, you'll need it more than I will." Troy stated, handing her his Dragon Sword. "Take care of Vrak and his little pet."

With that, Troy rushed straight for the Robo Knight. It levelled its blaster straight at him, and started to open fire. Every shot that hit felt like he'd been hit by a car, but summoning every ounce of his determination, Troy kept going, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain. He slammed his shoulder into Robo Knight's abdomen, and grabbed him into a double-leg pickup, hoisting him off the ground, before bringing him down. Before he hit the ground though, both of them teleported, leaving the dock.

"Wait...THAT's his plan?" Jake asked incredulously. "He wants to take Robo Knight by himself?"

"Jake, we can't worry about that now." Emma told him, looking around as the flames became more intense. They could now feel the blistering heat through their suits, which were stretched to breaking point by the effort to keep them from succumbing to the flames. "We have our own fight to worry about."

"Troy knows what he's doing." Gia stated. "Most of the time. We can help him once we're done here."

"Well, it looks like your leader has chosen to sacrifice himself to spare all of you." Vrak taunted them. "Well, I was hoping to just leave you to your malfunctioning team mate, to unleash him against you all, but I guess having him destroy one of you for now will suffice."

He gestured to Scaraban.

"Without a full team, my friend here should be more than enough to finish you off." Vrak answered. "Scaraban..."

"It would be my pleasure!" He answered as he rushed to the attack. With a huge cry, the Rangers took up their weapons and rushed his way.

Troy and Robo Knight reappeared, several feet in the air, tumbling back towards the Earth. Troy had activated his teleportation, but in the heat of battle, he hadn't been able to focus properly on his exact re-entry destination. They slammed into some cliffs, tumbling down the rock face, sparks coming from them with every impact. They both landed on the beach, at which Troy de-morphed, rolling to a stop in the sand. He groaned in agony from all the punishment.

He looked up to see the Robo Knight starting to get back to his knees, but as he was doing so, he saw him clutching his helmet again, and screaming out. Troy started to crawl towards him.

As he got closer, he saw the armour beginning to segment, and retract. Jordan fell face first into the sand as the last of his armour retracted within him. Troy came over as quickly as he could, turning Jordan over. He was very pale, and looked completely drained, but he appeared to still be breathing. Troy helped him back to his knees.

"Jordan?" Troy asked him. Jordan just looked to him.

"Troy, I...I can't..."

"We can worry about what happened later." Troy told him. "Right now, you need to come with me."

"Where are we?" Jordan asked, looking around.

"We're on Gosei's island." Troy explained. "I had intended to take you straight to Gosei, but...well..."

Suddenly, Jordan grabbed at his head again.

"Jordan, Jordan, you have to fight this..."

"I...I can't!" Jordan told him. "It's too strong!"

"You're stronger! The Robo Knight can't exist without you!" Troy told him. Jordan looked to where his Robo Blade had fallen in the sand, and up to Troy.

"You're right." Jordan responded. "Troy, do it now, while I'm in control."

"Jordan, what are you talking about?" Troy asked him.

"He can't exist without me!" Jordan reiterated. "There's no one out here for him to get a new host! This might be your only chance!"

Troy saw Jordan looking at the fallen sword and realised what he meant. He knew that there was logic in his thinking. He knew that it would be the best chance he would get to end the threat of the malfunctioning Robo Knight. He also appreciated the sacrifice Jordan was willing to make. He was offering to let Troy kill him so that Robo Knight wouldn't have a host body.

"Jordan, I can't..."

"You have to! I can already feel him coming back!" Jordan answered. "Troy, please, before it's too..."

Jordan couldn't speak anymore, clutching at his head. Troy started to back away as his armour started to come forth once more. As the final piece locked into place, Troy saw him taking up his sword.

"You interfere in my mission. You are an enemy." Robo Knight stated. Troy tried to activate his morpher, but it just sputtered uselessly. He had used up a lot of power on his protection and bringing Jordan to the island; he had no energy left to morph. He realised to his horror that the Robo Knight wasn't stopping just because he was defenceless.

Inside the Command Centre, Emily, Mike and Lauren were watching events unfolding on their monitors.

"Troy!" Emily called out.

"He didn't bring him in here!" Tensou added. "We need him here!"

"Well, maybe it'll be easier if Troy manages to get out with all his body parts still attached!" Mike told him. "The others...?"

"They're having their issues." Lauren answered, looking to another screen. She thought about it for a moment. "Mike, you and Emily go and help Troy."

She pulled out the Black Box and the Snake disk, handing them to her two team mates. Emily took the Black Box.

"I look better in the white coat." She explained to her husband. "Come on, we need to get out there."

With that, they ran out of the Command Centre. She then looked back to Gosei.

"Gosei, I need to borrow something." She told him.

"The Robo Knight..."

"I have every faith in my team." She told him flatly. "Here's what I want you to do."

Back at the harbour, the battle was becoming much more dangerous by the moment. Fire service ships were starting to move in to control the flames fanning out over the ocean on the floating oil, but with the battle raging on the dock, there was no way they could risk doing much more than controlling it and stopping it getting out further.

Sections of the dock were collapsing around them as the flames consumed it, rendering the whole area unstable. The Rangers quickly found themselves battling against the conditions as much as their enemies. Thick, dark smoke and heat ripples made seeing more than a few feet next to impossible. Gia and Noah were concentrating on Vrak, keeping him back as Emma and Jake dealt with Scaraban. Jake's snake axe rebounded off his carapace again; sending sparks flying, but doing little to slow him down.

"Man, what is this guy made of?" Jake complained. He and Emma were sent crashing to the ground, only to be joined shortly afterwards as Vrak blasted Gia and Noah, sending them to the same area.

"Now, this has been fun." Vrak told them. "I almost want to just leave you here to roast, but I think it'll be much more fun to just..."

As he was about to finish, a huge flame flashed across them, staggering them. They watched as the Red Megaforce Ranger ran into view.

"Guys, Troy's back." Gia responded. "Come on, we can combine our weapons."

"Wait, here? Now?" Noah asked. "The place is falling apart as it is."

"Do you have a better idea?" Emma asked. She handed the Dragon Sword back to Troy. "OK, you lead off."

"Uh...I think you should." A surprisingly feminine voice replied. Emma just looked to the Red Ranger.

"Lauren?" She asked.

"It's amazing what a little symbol power can do." She told Emma. "You need five Rangers and five power cards to use the Mega Blaster. Gosei lent me Troy's cards, the new look...that was my idea."

"OK guys, now." Emma stated as she locked the Dragon Sword to her Phoenix Shot. The rest of the Rangers followed suit, completing the weapon. Emma took up the firing position, realising that Lauren probably didn't know the full intricacies of operating it.

"Just do what I do." Emma told her. "Sky cards, activate!"

Emma placed her card into place, and Lauren did likewise. The other Rangers completed the procedure. Seeing them all placing their hands on Emma's shoulders, Lauren did likewise. She felt the weapon drawing from her power.

"Megaforce Blaster, activate!" They chorused. Pulling the trigger, they opened fire. Scaraban arrogantly stood his ground, but Vrak's survival instinct prevailed and he threw himself out the way, rolling through some flames and igniting his cloak as he did so.

Scaraban took the full brunt of the hit, and stopped still. He felt his power erupting, bursting forth. Falling backwards, he exploded.

"Well, that's a breath of fresh air." Jake stated. "With all the mutants we've been facing, it's nice to see someone that doesn't leave...pieces...behind."

They heard screaming, and saw Vrak frantically batting out the flames on his cloak. He had been badly burned, and looked like he had no desire to continue fighting.

"You think this is over?" Vrak snarled. "Just because your Red Ranger somehow evaded the Robo Knight..."

His words tailed off as he saw them aiming the Mega Blaster at them. He realised his position now. He was a strong fighter, but he was not too proud to realise when it was time to flee and come back at a later date. He just teleported out as the Rangers fired a blast, narrowly missing him.

"Damn it!" Gia growled. "So close!"

"You'll get another chance." Lauren answered. "Trust me, they always come back."

"Wait...Lauren?" Jake asked. "You Samurai really are into your cross dressing aren't you?"

"I just took your warning about public image to heart." Lauren answered in a groan. "Now, am I going to have to teach you a lesson like Terry did?"

"Shutting up now." Jake stated.

"The emergency services are starting to move in." Emma told them. "We'd probably be best not being here when..."

"OK, not an option." Gia said as she pointed to the sky. "It looks like Vrak's giving Scaraban another shot at us."

"So, ready for your first time in a new Zord?" Noah asked Lauren.

"I guess I'm up for trying anything once." She answered. "Gosei, I have one last favour to ask."

Back on the island, Troy was doing his best to stay ahead of Robo Knight as he pursued him across the island. He had never really seen much of the island outside of the Command Centre, all the times he had been there, he had teleported straight inside. Since there were no obvious buildings, and the walls were made of rock, logic dictated that the Command Centre was inside the cliff, the only thing on the island large enough house anything that large. The issue was, finding the way inside before he was vaporised.

His morpher still didn't have the energy to morph him. Without his powers, there was no room for error. He didn't have any enhanced strength or speed, and no protection. He knew that his first mistake would also be his last. He scrambled up the rock face, taking cover as another blast came forth.

"You cannot hide forever." Robo Knight called after him. "Enemies of the Earth will all be destroyed!"

Troy pressed his back against a rock, waiting for a moment as he looked around. He wished he knew more about the island, more about where he could find a way inside. Instead, he was stuck with the Robo Knight in pursuit. He knew that he would never stop unless someone made him. He felt a shift in the island, and saw a cave open up. He ran for it, only narrowly being missed by the Robo Knight's blasts.

"This way!" Mike called out as he got to the cave.

"You?" He asked.

"Thank my wife for the new back door." He responded. "You need him in the Command Chamber right?"

"That's right." Troy said in breathless gasps as Mike helped him.

"This way." Mike told him. They ran through the cave, being followed implacably by the Robo Knight as he got in. Suddenly, the cave started to close up behind him.

They finally got to the Command Chamber, where Troy took cover. He looked to his morpher, and saw the eyes starting to glow dimly.

"I think I've got enough energy to morph." Troy told him.

"Never mind." Emily told him. "You're not the only one with ideas."

"There's nowhere left to run." Robo Knight warned him. He saw the Yellow and Green Samurai standing in his way. "Step aside, assist him and..."

"But how can we be enemies of the Earth?" Emily asked him. She used her Samuraizer to cause some of the Earth to rise up between them. Mike joined in, causing the roots of the plants outside to grow into the Command Centre.

"The Earth responds to us." Mike told him. "The Earth accepts us as its partners in protecting it."

"Illogical!" Robo Knight blurted out. "How...The Earth...You stand in defence of an enemy...but the Earth..."

"It's working." Mike whispered as he and Emily drove their barrier forward. Just for a little more theatricality and a demonstration of the Earth's response to them, Mike added a few flowers to the mix, the roots bursting into bloom.

"Did you doubt me?" She asked. Robo Knight continued to back up, completely confused. Eventually, he saw a wall open up. He turned to see Gosei on the wall.

"Gosei?" It asked. "You stand in defence...?"

"He must go into that chamber." Gosei told them. "It is the only place he can be safely secured while he repairs himself."

"You...you stand in defence of the enemy!" Robo Knight declared. "You gave them their powers, you protect them. You are more than just an enemy of the Earth, you are a TRAITOR!"

Robo Knight started to fire blasters at the face in the wall, damaging it. Mike and Emily just continued to move their barriers, driving Robo Knight towards the barrier.

"He's nearly there!" Emily called out. "Just a little more!"

Just then, Gosei's eyes lit up, and he fired a blast into Robo Knight's chest, punting him straight into the dark chamber within. The wall closed over, sealing him inside.

"It is done." Gosei told them.

"Wait, that's it?" Troy demanded. "That's what you were going to do? Lock him up?"

"He is where he needs to be." Gosei told him. "That chamber houses the Library of Zordon. Only there can the memories of the Robo Knight and Jordan be completed and separated once more."

"You locked him in a library?" Emily asked, seeming confused.

"His body will be shut down, only his mind, his memories will be active." Gosei explained. "The Library will attempt to use the collected information of its databank to sort and separate the Robo Knight's memories from Jordan's."

"So...he'll be alright?" Troy asked.

"That is something only Jordan can determine." Gosei told them. "For now, all we can do is wait."


	5. The Library of Zordon

Jordan started to come to, finding himself feeling...not much of anything really. He didn't really know what to think. Although his armour was strong, and blunted or even dissipated most of the attacks from the lowest level enemies he faced, he still generally felt something after one of the stronger enemies let him have it. Although he had shaken it off before, it wasn't like having a building dropped on him tickled.

Remembering his battles, all he had been forced to do while the Robo Knight took command of him completely. He looked down on himself, finding that he was himself once more. There was no armour, like he had been stripped completely of it. Slowly getting back to his feet, he could feel something nearby, something much stronger and more powerful than he had ever experienced. Being raised on military bases, he had been friends with kids of many cultural backgrounds. The power he felt was a little nerve wracking, but at the same time, felt warm, and welcoming. Like this was somewhere he was safe, somewhere he belonged. It reminded him a lot of the way his more faith oriented friends had described going to a Church, or Mosque, or Synagogue.

He blinked as he tried to get his bearings. He had no idea where he was, the place he found himself...it was like nothing he had ever seen before. At first, it was dark, but not so dark he couldn't see that he was enclosed in a room. As he started to gain his bearings, the room took on a sort of pale purple glow that seemed to come from shapes in the walls and floor. On closer inspection, the floor was marked with lines, all subtly different shades of purple, and leading away in different directions, like a roadway map of sorts, designed to lead someone to specific areas...although he had no idea to where as there were no instructions to say what each line was.

Looking to the walls, on closer inspection, the shapes seemed to fit some form of pattern, some of the symbols repeating, others fitting together in sequences...it was writing, but not any kind he had ever seen. They were glyphs that were completely unfamiliar to him. He had spent a while in Japan, and so had seen their calligraphy, and could read it a little. He recognised Chinese and Arabic figures, although he had no idea where to even begin reading them...these were none of them. He reached out to the wall, running his fingers across it. The wall felt as smooth as an egg, no indication of where the light came from, and the symbols themselves gave off no heat. It was like the room itself created light which existed...but purely because the room willed it to be so.

He heard grating of stone on stone and turned to see shapes lifting out of the ground, creating some form of maze. He watched as they sprouted shelves, and orbs of pure light appeared to float a little way above them. There was a bright flash, and then he no longer felt like he was alone in this strange place. He felt another presence, one from someone he couldn't yet see.

"Welcome Jordan." He heard a voice saying. It was female, and sounded...human. "I am sorry for your confusion, I needed to take a few moments to scan your mind, to find the best way to communicate with you that you would understand."

"Who are you?" Jordan asked her. "Where am I? How did you...?"

"Now all that's left to ask are 'what' and 'why'." The voice told him.

"The armour, what happened to it?" Jordan asked the voice. "What is this place?"

"You ask a lot of questions, that is good, for you are in a place where questions are a good thing, perhaps the only thing that will help you." The voice said to him. "For it is only truth, answers that lead the way."

"The way to where?" Jordan asked, starting to become impatient. "Tell me what you want!"

"What I want is immaterial; I have not been alive since long before your species crawled from the Ocean and breathed air for the first time." The voice stated.

"Show yourself!" Jordan snapped as he finally lost his patience. "Give me some straight answers! What is this all about?"

"I forget how impatient and petulant your species is, you simply want everything handed to you, but this is a place of enlightenment, of learning." The voice continued. "However, to speed things along, I will grant your request and...show myself."

A column of light came out of the floor, and started to form into a familiar shape. Jordan just watched as eventually, it started to come into detail, compiling data from nothing, until eventually, the light faded. Standing before him was a woman, one he had only ever seen in pictures. She was shorter than Jordan, only around five foot three, with pale skin, and kind, dark eyes. Her long, brown hair hung down to the small of her back. She was wearing a long, white dress, and greeted him with a smile that made his heart stop still. It was one he had only ever seen in pictures, and had always wished he could have seen in person.

"Mom?" Jordan asked, recognising her. She shook her head.

"I am afraid not. I was an Eltarian in my lifetime. I never left that planet, not physically anyway. I, like Gosei, was a student of the great Zordon. When my life was coming to an end, he created a programme from my essence. Like Gosei I find that communication with lower species is easier if I take on a form they will understand. I merely borrowed your mother's likeness from your memory." She explained. "I have had many names, across numerous star systems, and species, but you may call me Pythia. It has been a while since anyone called me that, but it will do for now."

"Pythia?" Jordan asked. "Like...the oracle, the priestess of Apollo?"

"So you do know something." She said, somewhat patronisingly, like she was addressing a four year old who told her the earth-shattering fact that one plus one made two. "This place is a nexus of information, containing the collected works of my people. It was compiled and brought to your world across many others by the one you know as Zordon."

"Zordon?" Jordan asked. "Gosei's mentor?"

"He was the very same." She told him. "Walk with me; I will explain the purpose of your visit."

"Usually people choose to visit." Jordan responded sarcastically as he followed his mother...Pythia, down one of the corridors.

Back in the city, at the docks, Gia, Jake, Emma, Noah, and their temporary Red Ranger Lauren formed up into the Gosei Grand Megazord. Lauren was sitting at her control console, seeing the range of controls before her, and suddenly froze up.

"Lauren, are you alright?" Emma asked. She still found it a little odd to see Lauren, having used Symbol Power to give herself the appearance of their Red Ranger, Troy.

"Um...this control setup...it's very different from what I'm used to." Lauren explained. "Our Zords only had a joystick and ran mostly on our willpower. This...this looks like something from the Enterprise!"

"We'll do the heavy lifting." Gia assured her. "Just sit back and channel your energy into it. We can handle this."

"Yeah, we have the functional parts...the arms and legs." Jake reminded her.

"OK, but just...let me know if there's anything I can do." Lauren told them. The battle raged on, as the inferno on the docks kept burning. Planes flew over, water bombing it, keeping the flames from spreading further inland at least.

Scaraban attacked ferociously, covering his advance with blasts as he surged through the flames, smashing into them with his claws.

"Damn this guy's tough!" Noah complained. "Does he not get the fact that if he stays, he'll be dry-roasted too?"

"I don't think he cares; I think he feels like he'll be doing his part for the empire or something." Emma explained. "Insects are very centrally focussed, they don't think about themselves, only the colony."

"Well, as fascinating as that is, can we please focus on this?" Noah asked as he took a swing with the sword. "God, what are we going...?"

He paused after a second attack.

"Guys, I see the pattern!" He told them. "Follow my lead!"

He took the sword, waiting for the approach. As Scaraban came rushing towards them, he looked to Lauren.

"Lauren, the yellow button!" He told her. "NOW!"

Lauren looked to the array of controls before her, finding the right one, and pressed it. The head of the Dragon Sword, launched from the chest of the Zord, straight into Scaraban's face. He stumbled on his advance, his momentum carrying him forward.

"Guys, now!" He screamed. They all channelled all their power into the sword. He brought it up, slicing off two of Scaraban's claw arms, before bringing it down on the other side, and slicing off the other two, before guiding him past. Scaraban fell face-first through one of the burning buildings.

"Nice job Noah." Jake complimented him, drawing his Victory Charge Card. "There's only one thing left!"

The others all did the same, and Lauren watched them as they put them in place, following suit. The Zord soared into the air.

"Alright, here we go guys, let's finish this and let the Emergency Services do their job!" Gia stated. They launched into the attack, obliterating Scaraban utterly. The Megazord stood on the burning docks, placing its sword away.

"Alright, let's..."

"No, the flames are already too intense." Lauren told them. "The Emergency Services need all the help they can get."

"She's right." Emma agreed. "Let's split up and do what we can."

As the Rangers split the Megazord into its component Zords, and got to work, a news crew that were there for the protest saw this.

"Tell me you're getting this." The reporter said to her cameraman.

"I'm getting this." He replied as he saw the Zords working to keep the flames in a central area, while the emergency vehicles were finally able to move into position. "The boss is going to love this footage."

Back in the Library, Jordan followed Pythia as she led him through. She eventually brought him into what appeared to be the centre. A round, stepped plinth rose up several feet from the floor. She started to ascend the stairs, at which Jordan followed.

"OK, so this is the Library of Zordon?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, it contains all the wisdom that my people attained..."

"Yeah, you already said that." Jordan interrupted her. "So, why exactly am I here?"

"You are here because this is where you need to be." Pythia told him. "The Robo Knight is damaged; its programming is struggling to find a way to repair itself."

"No shit." Jordan said sarcastically. "He was about to blow some guys to Kingdom Come for littering!"

"Is that not just the logical extension of his base programme?" Pythia asked. "He has forgotten his past experiences. Or rather, his memory banks are damaged. He cannot remember the values he has learned from his hosts. Compassion, restraint...he sees no moral shade of grey, only the simplistic view that anything that isn't right, is automatically wrong and therefore an enemy."

"Yeah, I figured all this stuff out!" Jordan told her. "So, you took the armour back. I thought there was no way to do that! Gosei..."

"Gosei told you the truth, the only way the armour can be removed is if the Robo Knight is destroyed, or if he and his host agree that their mission is complete, and there is no need for him." Pythia continued to explain.

"Look, I may not understand any of...this!" Jordan replied, panning his hand around. "But I'm not in the armour now! I can't feel it inside me, so why am I still here?"

"Are you?" She asked him as they got to the top of the plinth. There, Jordan saw the Robo Knight standing, isolated in a glowing column of light. He looked on it confusion.

"The armour..."

"It is your physical form." Pythia explained. "Your body is still inside."

"Wait, you're saying...I'm standing right here! I'm looking straight at it!" He began to protest.

"You are no more standing here than I am." Pythia told him. "This form is your mind given form, given a way to travel the library."

"Travel the...what for?" Jordan asked her.

"In much the same way as the Robo Knight's mind is broken, so too is yours." Pythia told him. "Without the correct programming, both sides are battling for supremacy, the Robo Knight's to use what it can to repair itself, namely your mind, and your mind in turn is battling for its own survival. Both sides are merging, collapsing in on each other. I do not know if one or either can exist if this happens. Gosei brought you here to allow you to repair yourself."

"Repair myself?" Jordan asked her. "How?"

"It is a library. What does one normally do in a library?" She said slightly condescendingly. "You must learn from this place, complete incomplete data, and reform both your minds. Only then will you be able to piece together what belongs to which mind. Only then will the damage be repaired."

"Then I can leave?" Jordan asked her.

"Perhaps." She said with a smile. "There is still the small matter of harmonising with the armour. We don't want you having another little...misunderstanding with weapons of this magnitude do we?"

"What if I can't?" Jordan asked her. "What if I don't?"

"Then you will remain here forever." Pythia said matter-of-factly. Jordan balled up a fist, his anger taking over. He never asked for any of this. He wanted to help, to be a hero, now he was stuck in some kind of library, told that he would never be allowed to leave until he satisfied Pythia?

"Let me go, now!" Jordan demanded.

"I'm afraid that decision is up to you." Pythia told him. "The sooner you get to work..."

Jordan took a swing for her, but his fist passed straight through her head. He continued to attack, but every blow just passed through without effect. Pythia just looked bored, and a little put out. She punched him in the chest, sending him flying to the base of the plinth.

"You are as thoughtless as you are incapable of listening." Pythia said as she disappeared from the top of the stairs and reappeared next to him. "I am no longer living. I no more have a physical body here than you do. Your outburst was as childish and pathetic as it was pointless."

"But...you hit me!" Jordan pointed out.

"In the Library, it is the power of the mind that rules all." Pythia told him, offering him a hand. Jordan took it and was helped to his feet. "That is why, as an Eltarian, even dead I am more than a match for you. You on the other hand...well...let's just say I am expecting this to take some time."

Jordan hated the way she spoke to him.

"Gosei was right." Jordan stated. "You Eltarians are arrogant."

"Arrogance is what one has when their belief in their greatness exceeds the reality." Pythia answered. "So, are you going to stand around trading insults for all eternity, or are you going to begin your quest and perhaps get out of here at some point before your sun goes into supernova and bakes the Earth?"

Jordan realised the futility of his position, and simply turned back to the shelves. They extended in all directions, and as far as he could see.

"So...where are the books?" He asked her. Pythia just laughed.

"You humans, you really are so restricted by your limited understanding of the universe." She chuckled. "Each of these energy spheres is a memory, one linked to a particular part of the history of our kind. All the knowledge we acquired from the universe on our travels. To access one, simply pick it up."

"Memories?" Jordan asked, looking around. "There must be billions here!"

"What did you expect? Even a human will have millions of memories from within their lifetime." She explained. "Zordon was already ancient by the time his war on Earth began over ten thousand of your years ago. His memories alone..."

"Right, right, I get it, there's a lot of memories here." Jordan sighed. "So, how am I meant to know where to look?"

"Just follow the guide." She told him. With that, she disappeared, leaving Jordan alone. He just sighed.

"Great, how am I meant to use a guide I can't even read?" He asked, thinking of the Eltarian glyphs on the wall. Just then, he found his attention drawn to one of the lines on the floor. He couldn't explain it, but he somehow just knew this was the one to follow.

He followed it to a bank of shelves, filled with the glowing orbs. As he got closer, he could hear sounds, voices coming from them. One of the orbs started to glow in a brilliant white as he approached.

He picked it up, and felt a wave of warm energy coursing through him. In a bright flash, he disappeared.


	6. The First Memory

At the Brainfreeze, everyone inside was glued to the television. Ernie had seen the wisdom months ago in having a large screen television installed that was always set to the news channel. Despite the destruction caused in their battles, the Rangers were incredibly good for business. Several customers would regularly stay in the Brainfreeze all day, just to hear the latest exploits as they enjoyed their milkshakes and ice creams.

Cat brought a coffee over to Ernie, who was sitting in the corner, working on some books. Although he still wasn't back to the counter full-time after the bomb attack, he was now going completely stir crazy being cooped up in the apartment all day, separated from his loyal customers. He had gone down to the restaurant to catch up on his books, one of the few things he was allowed to do by his well-meaning friends.

Cat spilled just a little of the coffee, not really paying attention to the task at hand, as she watched the screen. The Emergency Services were only now starting to get the fire under control, largely through the efforts of the Rangers and their Zords to help.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Cassidy Cornell with CNN news. We are reporting live from Harwood County Harbour, where the Edward Teach ran aground during an attack by aliens earlier today." The reporter started to relay to the camera. "At this time, we have it on good authority from the Fire Marshall, that the flames are now under control, and it is expected that the flames will be extinguished within the next half hour. However, we have been told that the real damage, the ecological cost of this spill has yet to be assessed, and may have a tragic legacy, one that the local environment may well take many years to recover.

"It's probably all their fault!" One of the customers at the counter called out in a snort. "They were on the ship before it ran aground; they should have been able to stop it!"

"Do you know how to pilot an oil tanker?" Theo asked the customer in an off-hand way, sliding him his milk shake. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Why don't we let the authorities decide whose to blame?"

"Why do people have to be like that?" Cat asked in a sigh, hearing the exchange as the report went on. "The Rangers are always risking their lives to try and help. They can't do everything and be everywhere."

"Sadly, some people will always focus more on failures than successes." Ernie told her sagely.

"But it's not fair!" Cat said, stomping her foot as she whined about it. "It's not like anyone else is doing half as much as they are! That tanker would never have crashed if that monster hadn't attacked it."

"People don't always see things that way." Ernie told her.

"But it's not right!" She pressed on. "They..."

"I understand you are upset, but right now is when they will need those of us that care for and support them to remain strong." Ernie said to her, taking her hand. "Cat, it is upsetting to hear them being attacked like this, but that is why those of us who do care about them remain strong in our support."

"I know, it's just..." Her words tailed off as she suddenly thought of something. "Wait, you said..."

He just smiled and nodded.

"I feel that much like yourself, I feel the connection to them at this time on a much more personal level than most." He assured her. "That is why our support is so important."

"You..." She started to say, before drawing closer. "You know?"

"I have always said, if one wishes to learn secrets, become a waiter." He assured her. "I knew very soon after they began."

"But...you didn't say..."

"Like I said, they need the support of those that care about them." He told her, stroking her shoulder gently. "Though I have always believed that the best way I can support them is simply to allow them a time and place to be themselves. They are young, and have a huge burden to carry."

"I guess now I know why they get so many comps now." Cat replied. "Your secret's safe with me."

Just then, he gestured to the television as Cassidy was interrupted in her report, a hand coming into view.

"Devin, Devin what...wait...what? OK, let's go!" She rushed out.

She and the camera man started to run as they saw a man in uniform coming to the front of the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, in breaking news the commissioner of Harwood Police Department, Commissioner David Jacobs has just been spotted, we're hoping to get a statement." She said as she pushed her way through the crowd. "Commissioner Jacobs, can we...?"

"I'm not at liberty to make a statement at this time, but rest assured a full statement will be made from our press office at an appropriate time once the situation here is under control." He interrupted the reporters clamouring for any word. "A full investigation into this incident will be launched, and you can rest assured that we will inform the press of our findings once the investigation is complete."

Just then, the Rangers' Zords, having helped the Emergency Services get the incident under control, blasted off back to the Command Centre. The crowd was divided in their reaction, some jeering, others whooping their support.

"Devin, back on me!" Cassidy told her camera man. "The Rangers have now left, and the Emergency Services are just starting to get the situation under control. As for when we will know exactly what the cost of this incident is, that much is now in the hands of the Harwood Emergency Services Investigation Department. More as we get it. This is Cassidy Cornell, signing off."

"I believe you are required at the desk." Ernie said to Cat as she watched the end of the report. "Remember, strength."

With that, Cat returned to work.

Jordan appeared in a flash of light, finding himself in a room, where a man was pacing the room intently. The room had sterile white walls, which were lit by floating, glowing orbs of pure light, much like the glyphs in the library. The man was tall, around six feet in height, and of slim build. He had very pale, almost ethereal flesh, and a bald head. He was wearing a long, flowing robe of a deep purple and glittering gold, intricately embroidered with a sort of glowing thread into a sort of heraldry. Being in a military family, Jordan recognised the culture; his father was very interested in military history, especially the knights of Europe.

It was customary that when a knight began his career, his surcoat and barding was a simple pattern, usually only two colours. A colour, which was referred to as a "metal", yellow to represent gold, and white to represent silver, comprised one of the two colours, while the other, referred to as the "colour" was up to the knight himself. Over time, and throughout his career, any time he accomplished something, a victory in battle, a quest, a successful hunt etc, he was entitled to add an appropriate symbol to his heraldry. In that way, a surcoat and his horse's barding ended up being as much a record of the knight's career as it was a unique and personal item of clothing. By the looks of this man's robes, he had quite a story to tell, even if Jordan didn't recognise the symbols on his cloak.

Eventually, a door opened up in one of the walls, and another man stepped out. He was pale, much like the man in the robe, but he was dressed very differently, in white, sterile clothing much like medical scrubs. He approached the man slowly.

"Well?" The robed man asked him.

"It is a boy Counsellor Zordon." He said quietly. Jordan heard the name and couldn't help being surprised. He had heard of Zordon through Gosei and Pythia, but he had never actually seen him. He didn't really know what he was expecting, but he had to admit that seeing him here, he was almost underwhelmed.

"I...I have a son?" Zordon asked him. The doctor sighed and drew him closer.

"Counsellor, I fear there is...a problem." He told him. "Come with me."

Jordan followed them into the delivery room, where they found a woman lying on the bed, presumably Zordon's wife. The doctor took him over to a machine in the corner. Zordon looked inside.

"Your child has experienced complications that we didn't anticipate." The doctor told him.

"He's in an incubator?" Zordon asked him. "What is wrong with him? What happened?"

"We...don't really know." The doctor told him. "We had difficulty getting him to breathe. We tried everything we could, but eventually we were left with this as our only option."

Zordon approached the machine, a simple, silver pod, with glass at the top, and looked down inside. He looked up to the doctor.

"Can I...?"

"I'm afraid you can't remove him from the incubator." The doctor told him. "The problem we had getting him to breathe...we managed to rectify it, but only by removing the air altogether."

"I'm sorry?" Zordon asked him.

"The incubator is being provided with a supply of pure nitrogen." The doctor explained. "We will need to run more tests, but your son...it appears your son is incapable of breathing our air. His body has not developed the ability to process it."

"It is a mutation isn't it?" Zordon asked him. The doctor just looked away. Zordon approached him angrily. "That is my son, tell me..."

"Sir, I cannot." He stammered. "The Council..."

"The council can be damned! That's my son!" Zordon snapped. "You recognised the symptoms and you knew what to do, that says you have experienced this before. Tell me."

The doctor reluctantly nodded.

"It is being seen in some newborns." The doctor told him. "At present, it is approximately one in every ten thousand, but the numbers...it is becoming more frequent."

"I warned the council of this, our air, our planet...this is our doing." Zordon said sadly. He had been working on his experiments, trying to convince the Council for centuries that their way of life, their over use of technology, was destroying the planet. Many of their species of plants and animals were now extinct; many of their natural resources had been mined dry. Zordon was convinced it was only a matter of time before it effected change, mutation within their kind. Most dismissed his theories as being alarmist, and accusing him of being out of touch with their kind's obsession with progress and scientific advancement. "Is there...anything we can do?"

"I am afraid not." The doctor told him. "He will never be able to survive in our environment.

Zordon just slumped over the incubator, looking down on his son thoughtfully.

"I will find a way, I have to." Zordon stated. "The council must be made to listen before it is too late. I promise you son, I will make them change their ways."

In a flash of light, Jordan found himself back in the Library. Pythia appeared a little way off, seeing the way he was looking at the orb as he placed it back on the shelf.

"Was...was I just on Eltar?" He asked her.

"You figured out that much?" She said dismissively. "Yes, you saw our kind at the height of our power. This memory though was important. Zordon was the one who predicted the fall of our kind. He was the one who had predicted that our ways were inherently self destructive. Only he saw the folly of our ways. It was cruel fate that it took such personal tragedy for him to increase his efforts to halt our decline."

"What happened?" Jordan asked her. "What about the baby?"

"You will see in time." She answered, gesturing down the path. "Your next memory awaits."

With that, Jordan followed the path which lit up before him. He followed it to another bank of shelves. When he got there, one of the orbs called to him, indicating that was the one he was to see. He picked it up, and once again vanished.

The Megaforce team got back to the Command Centre, at which Lauren finally got the chance to change back into her true form. Troy was sitting on a chair, with Tensou fussing over him.

"Tensou, I keep telling you I'm fine." Troy told him.

"Where's Robo Knight?" Jake asked him. Troy just gestured to the wall.

"Somewhere in there." He replied. "Gosei locked him away somewhere to get himself sorted out."

"Wait...that's it?" Emma asked. "You locked him up?"

"He assured us that would be enough." Emily informed them. "There's...something else you should probably see though."

With that, she pointed to a viewing screen on the wall. It was tuned into one of the local channels.

"Hey, that's Jesse Miles!" Jake said with a smile on his face. "He's one of the best chat show hosts in the city, I love that guy!"

"That guy that tries to be Jerry Springer and fails miserably?" Gia asked him in disbelief. "Come on, its trashy tabloid viewing at its lowest."

"He's got the top rated show in his time slot!" Jake protested.

"Guys, will you keep it down?" Troy asked, pointing to the screen. The volume came up as they showed footage of the battle at the Harbour.

"And so, once again the Rangers battle to save the Earth...or do they?" Jesse's voice came over the screen. "Here we have an ecological disaster which will take years to clean up, all because they bring their own brand of destruction to our doorstep."

"Wait, what?" Jake asked.

"I'm guessing the bromance is over?" Gia teased him. Troy just gestured back to the screen.

"Yes, some may say that they helped with the cleanup, but then if my kids clean up after they smash my house, do I praise them for cleaning up the mess they made? I say no!" Jesse put down aggressively. The screen flicked to him in his studio, pacing the stage in front of a rabid crowd. He was a short, skinny man, with slicked back blonde hair, and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a dark suit, with a crimson tie. "I say we hold them to account, which it why on tomorrow's show, which will be broadcast live in front of a studio audience, we ask the public to decide, Rangers, are they heroes? Or do they cause more problems than they solve?"

"This...this is just great!" Gia snapped. "The authorities haven't even decided what happened yet, and this guy wants to put us on trial?"

"And once again, I make my sincere invitation to the Rangers. If you like, if you have the courage to face the music for your actions, come to the studio tomorrow night at six." He said in a harsh voice. "Let's see you have the courage to face the public's questions."

As the commercial ended, Mike looked to the Megaforce team.

"Wow, that...that's pretty messed up." Mike told them. "We never had anything like that."

"So, what are you going to do?" Emily asked.

"What can we do? It's not like we can go doing television interviews." Noah answered.

"Not saying anything could cause more problems." Gia suggested. "No one's suggesting we go on and unmask or anything, but..."

"In case you hadn't noticed, we kind of have something going on here." Jake reminded them. "You know, Jordan?"

"There is nothing you can do to help Jordan right now." Gosei declared. "For now, it is best that you do what you can to appease the public."

"A PR exercise?" Emma asked. Mike just chuckled, at which Emily hit him.

"Hey, you know what she meant." Emily stated.

"I guess it will make things harder if we get people gathering around at every battle baying for our blood." Troy sighed. "I guess we're doing this then."

Over at the TV studio, Jesse was just finishing up with his filming, when his producer came in.

"Good news Jesse, the ticket sales are off the chart." She told him. "Three hundred bucks a pop, and they've still sold out in the hour since they went on sale!"

"Excellent, the public love me!" He said arrogantly. "So, tell me, what are the casualty figures?"

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"The casualty figures for the tanker crash?" He clarified.

"Um...the Coast Guard fished most of the sailors out...so far...about fifty injured, and...three confirmed dead."

"Really, that's all?" He asked. "Damn it, I was hoping for more."

"Wait...what?" She asked him, unable to believe what he had just said.

"We want to put them on the spot on television, I wanted a bigger incident. Two dozen dead to answer for is much bigger than three." He told her. She just looked completely aghast.

"Jesse, people died!" She snapped. "I can't believe you're being so..."

"Trust me sweetheart, if I'd been there with a camera, I'd have done a show on the crucifixion." He told her with a smile. "Tomorrow night, I become a legend!"


	7. More Memories

Jordan appeared inside a new memory, this one appearing to take place a few years after the first. The architecture of the room seemed to indicate that he was once again on Eltar. This place seemed a little more informal, and although it was alien, Jordan could just feel a sense of belonging, of comfort and safety. This was a home, Zordon's home.

The old sage sat on a large, reclined chair of an unknown material, swathed in his robes as he worked through some screens of data, written in Eltarian, taking notes on a separate screen. Jordan noticed that he was not typing anything, but simply had his fingers pressed to the screen, and words...or at least, what he presumed were words, simply appeared on the screen. Jordan made his way over, standing directly behind Zordon. Although he was alien, and presumably his physiology didn't necessarily work the same way as a human's, his face seemed haggard, worn, and artificially aged. His skin was sinking into his body, and he seemed a lot thinner, and less healthy, like he was not taking care of himself. He seemed to have artificially aged with time. Whatever he was working on, it seemed it had kept him here some time.

Jordan looked over his shoulder at the screens he was working on, staring at the glyphs there. He didn't know why, he couldn't actually read it. Or...he didn't really understand why, but as he drew closer, almost touching Zordon as he found himself entranced by the glowing glyphs, he could swear he was starting to see...something...in them. Certain patterns, sets of glyphs that repeated themselves, configurations...

He looked around as a flash of light indicated someone entering the room, teleporting inside. Zordon didn't take his eyes off his work, but Jordan turned to see a figure approaching him. This figure was female, and had the same pale, almost ethereal flesh Zordon had, with brilliant white hair that extended down to her waist. She was wearing purple and silver robes, just like Zordon's, though they were much less ornate, with only a couple of small patterns embroidered into it, as befitted an apprentice or student with far less accomplishments. She had bright eyes, and a hauntingly beautiful face, with smooth, elegant features. She approached Zordon slowly, reverently, but her expression showed concern.

"Mentor?" A female voice asked, approaching him. She reached forward, her hand passing through Jordan and placed it on Zordon's shoulder. "Mentor, you've missed our lesson again."

Zordon just shrugged off her hand, causing her to sigh and move around to the side, where he could see her.

"You are an impressive student Pythia, you are already far ahead of others your age." He told her. "You don't need me to hold your hand. You can study by yourself."

"What if I don't want to?" She asked him. "Mentor, I chose you over all others as my mentor. I sacrificed much to become your student. I left my home, my family, my friends, all to study under the great Zordon..."

"You also know of the importance of my work." Zordon interrupted her. "The Council refuses to heed my warnings; they continue to deny the obvious. They meet so irregularly, I must ensure that this time, there is no refuting my findings. I must prepare, I must..."

"What you must do is ensure you make it to the meeting." She said soothingly, stroking his shoulders. "No one has seen you in months. You haven't been to any of my lessons; you haven't even visited your son."

Zordon just sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. It had been a long time. His son, who was not expected to live more than a few days, was still alive, albeit purely through technological means. Any other Eltarian would simply have been allowed to perish, for fate to take its course if the child was not suited to the environment, but Zordon had a lot of influence and means at his disposal. His son was still incapable of surviving in the Eltarian atmosphere, and was forced to exist in a specially constructed home Zordon had built, which had nitrogen pumped into it, allowing him to breathe. Zordon just looked to her.

"It has really been that long?" He asked her. She just nodded.

"Seven months at the last count." She said to him as she drew closer. "I'm guessing the days have been running into each other."

"They tend to do that when you sleep as rarely as I do." Zordon responded. "I simply must be ready for the next time the council meets. They have alerted me to their next session...it is in..."

"Three weeks my Mentor." She interrupted him. Zordon just stared at her blankly.

"No, the next meeting isn't until..."

"It is already the month of Resuria." She assured him. "You have been in isolation longer than you realise."

She looked to him with a smile.

"Go; be with your son and rest. You will do no good to anyone if you are too exhausted to speak, or if you must wait another decade before the next meeting." She told him. "I'll save the work you have done here."

With that, Zordon got up, and started to leave the room, leaving Pythia alone with his work. She grabbed one of the screens, which shrank into a ball of light, just like the memories in the Library. Jordan saw the room fade, and found himself back in the Library, Pythia waiting for him, sitting on a chair a little way off.

"Well, you looked different back then." Jordan commented. Pythia, who was still taking on the form of Jordan's mother, just smiled.

"Well, yes I did. Of course, I was alive then." She reminded him.

"Well, now I know what you looked like, can you...you know...stop looking like my mom? It's kind of creeping me out."

"I find I actually quite like this form." Pythia said as she stood up and started to walk towards him. "Your mother really was beautiful...you know...by human standards that is."

"Alright, so what does any of this have to do with me and Robo Knight?" Jordan asked her. "So far, neither one of us has related in any way to either of these memories..."

"That is where you are wrong. It is all connected as one. Of course, I do not expect you to simply see that straight away. It would really be remarkable if a mere human could begin to comprehend the things the Eltarians had seen and done before your kind even had the most basic of tools."

"Whatever." Jordan snorted. "Just...take me to the next memory."

"Why would I do that?" She asked him. "This is your journey, not mine."

"You're meant to be guiding me!" Jordan reminded her.

"Yes, I am meant to guide, not spoon feed you the answers." Pythia sighed. "Of course, neither of us has anything but time. It's not like either of us is going anywhere. The only question is how badly you want to leave. Me...I'm here for good anyway. Though if you will be staying, I would appreciate it if you'd stop whining."

With that, she disappeared. Jordan looked to the floor as another pathway lit up. He just started to follow it, wondering what he would see next.

Back in the city, Noah was just finished cleaning up for the day ahead. He was used to keeping some pretty unusual hours, his experiments often taking so long that it wasn't unusual for him to be up until the small hours of the morning, or waking up before even the birds were stirring.

The team had wanted to stay at the command centre, to hang around in case they could help Jordan, but knowing that they had no way to communicate with him inside the Library, they had eventually been convinced to head for home. They had their own lives to attend to. It wasn't long before the new term started, and with the distractions across the summer, most of them hadn't even applied for the classes they wanted to take in their senior year. Noah, true to form, had already put his forms in. That didn't stop him having distractions though, today was his first day of work at the Wildlife Park.

He still wasn't exactly sure about it, but he knew that once he got his first pay in, it would beat the hell out of putting his hand in his pocket and only feeling his leg three weeks out of four. As he got downstairs, he found his mom making up a set of sandwiches for his lunch. He just took some fruit for his breakfast.

"Oh, your friends are here to give you a lift." Mrs Carver told him. "You have good friends there, I hope you say thank you."

"But mom, none of my friends have..." His words tailed off as he saw Emily and Mike sitting at the table. Mike was busy crunching through some toast, and slurping some hot chocolate while Emily was just waiting.

"Well Noah, are you nearly ready to go?" Emily asked him.

"Um...I thought you guys went home..."

"Lauren went on ahead." Emily interrupted him. "We just thought we'd see that you got to your first shift safely. You know what this town can be like."

"Yeah, especially with all those monsters around." Mrs Carver stated. "Not to mention those Power Rangers...did you see what they all did to that harbour last...?"

"I should probably be making tracks." Noah stated, cutting his mother off. He gathered up his jacket, and headed for the door. "Emily, Mike..."

"On our way." Mike mumbled as he shoved a whole slice of toast in his mouth, and grabbed a whole stack to take with him. "This was great, thanks Mrs Carver."

As they left, Mrs Carver just shook her head with a little smile.

"I'm glad to see Noah finally making more friends." She commented to herself. "Though I do wish he'd find some that weren't so...strange."

Back in the Library, after locating and grabbing the next memory, Jordan found himself appearing in a massive room, which seemed to completely defy logic. It was a round room, somewhere in the region of fifty feet in diameter, and was walled by a single, uninterrupted wall of glass which bevelled outwards, like someone had made a full glass donut of immense size. The roof and floor were made of steel, which was inlaid with gold. In the centre was a huge, round table which was surrounded by large, ornate chairs, each with a coat of arms above it. The largest and most ornate of them was topped with a pattern, a simple square, with a cross inside it, made out of highly polished silver.

Jordan made his way to the side, and instantly regretted it. He staggered to see how high up they were. The entire chamber was in the air, with no means of support whatsoever, possibly as high as a mile in the sky. It was floating over a city, whose architecture was nothing short of a miracle. The skyscrapers led up into the air, glittering spires of sweeping curved and spiralling steel and glass, inlaid with precious metals and jewels, many of which were glowing. The sky over them was a pale orange. Jordan had to steady himself, and remember that despite the height, he wasn't really there. As far as he was aware, nothing could harm him.

Zordon was the first to arrive, along with Pythia. He started to make his way towards the table.

"It appears we are here first." Zordon told her. He looked a little healthier than the last time Jordan had seen him, but he was still clearly heavily burdened. He placed a glowing orb on the table and looked to Pythia. "Now, you are clear on this, the council does not normally allow observers. Your presence here is not something that the others are used to. Remember protocol, only the counsellors are meant to speak. Take this as an invaluable learning experience, but do not challenge them. That is what I'm here for."

As he took his seat, Pythia took up a seat at the edge of the chamber.

Others started to arrive, all dressed just as ornately. They passed by Pythia without any form of acknowledgement at all. There were half a dozen in all, despite their being almost twenty seats at the table. Jordan watched as they all took their seats.

"Another decade passes." A female member of the council sighed, taking her seat, looking bored. "Hopefully we can wrap this up quickly so I can get back to my project on..."

"I have important matters I must raise." Zordon told her abruptly. "Believe me; this meeting will not be short."

The last member of the Council arrived, at which all the other counsellors rose and bowed in reverence. He was wearing long, black robes, patterned in gold with symbols depicting his accomplishments. He appeared to be younger than Zordon, and had a more muscular, powerful build. He was carrying a staff, which repeated the glyph on the top of his throne, the square containing a diagonal cross. He placed his staff, point first on the floor, which stood impossibly on point as he sat down. He gestured to the others to do the same.

"Well, another decade has passed, and we gather as arranged to discuss matters of state." He began. "Zordon has requested time for a full presentation and vote, the only one of us to do so, as such, I propose the rest of us provide their summary of their business."

"Lord Scimitar." The female on his left began, standing up. "I Counsellor Wallacia have nothing to report, save for the successful negotiation of trading rights within the Xybrian mining sector." She began. "As you all know, the Xybrians were a backward people, but with our guidance, have expanded exponentially into the rest of their sector. Their mines provide us with raw materials for numerous projects that will continue to keep the Eltarians in our position of prominence for some time."

"Excellent, Counsellor Renahl, do you have anything to add?" Lord Scimitar asked.

"I have begun the project in Triforian space." The next counsellor began. "We have gifted them the technology to expand their outposts and gather new materials. He started to say. "This has brought them as far as..."

"Triforian space?" Pythia chimed in, causing all of them to look around. No one other than a Counsellor was meant to be in the chamber, they certainly weren't meant to speak. Zordon looked to her in warning. "But...that is very close to Xybrian borders! If they expand into Xybrian space, there may be war!"

"Forgive my student." Zordon told them. "Her enthusiasm..."

"No, allow the child to speak." Wallacia told him. "I would like to hear her perspective. We have heard the same dusty views for centuries; perhaps a fresh perspective will serve us."

"Forgive me." Pythia began, realising she had landed herself in an awkward position. "But...it just seems to me a conflict would cost countless lives..."

"And why would we care?" Lord Scimitar asked in an off-hand way. "The Xybrians are lower beings. Before we showed up, they had barely perfected making alloys."

"As for the Triforians, they were still staring at the sky wondering what was above them." Wallacia carried on. "Both peoples have expanded into star faring races under our guidance..."

"But perhaps culturally they are not ready for such things." Pythia suggested. "Maybe...maybe our interference has only brought about a likely conflict that will harm both cultures."

"I still have a hard time seeing where this concerns us." Renahl added.

Pythia looked at Zordon and sighed. She could see what he had been saying with her own eyes. The Council didn't concern themselves with the impact their actions had on other races, they only cared about ensuring raw materials to continue with their scientific and technological advancement.

"It just occurs to me that any conflict will only hamper our supplies." She carried on. "They will use resources to create weapons for their war. Factories and mines will be destroyed; raw materials will be wasted and destroyed..."

"She has a point." Wallacia said, looking to Lord Scimitar. He just shrugged.

"Very well, we will do what we can to prevent war." He answered in a weary tone, like he was being asked to do something bothersome and unimportant, not make a decision that would change the course of millions of lives. "So, shall we get on with this Zordon?"

He picked up the energy orb, and threw it into the middle of the table. It opened up into a column, covered in writing of his findings. He began with his presentation.

"Lord Scimitar, we cannot continue to ignore these warnings." Zordon began. "I have repeatedly told the council of my concerns for our kind..."

"Oh please, are we going to have to sit through another horror story of the end of days are we?" Wallacia asked in a derisive laugh. "Look at us; we are the greatest species..."

"We are living on borrowed time by abusing other species for their resources!" Zordon announced. "Our own world was mined completely dry millennia ago! I was there the day the last drops of fuel were sucked from beneath our oceans, which themselves have become lifeless and started to dry up!"

"There is always more water." Lord Scimitar declared. "We cannot expect our kind to revert to the ways of savages just because a few animals..."

"A thousand species have become extinct in the last year alone!" Zordon interrupted him sharply. "Not to mention that our over reliance on radioactive fuels has gravely affected our own kind. The birth rate has dropped astronomically!"

"I keep telling you Zordon, our species moves in peaks and troughs." Scimitar declared. "We are a long-lived species and breed only a few times in our lives. Why, I believe your student there is nearly three thousand..."

"Two thousand, three hundred and forty two." Pythia corrected him. He just waved off the detail.

"The point is..."

"The point is, at the beginning of the millennium, the council had fifteen members." Zordon reminded him. "Last time we met, we had twelve. Now, we have only seven!"

"Zordon..."

"Our kind are mutating as a result of our irresponsible abuse of our climate! There are children being born that cannot even breathe our air!" He continued. "My own son is one of those children! He has lived for three hundred and seventy six years unable to leave a single room because of this!"

"I am sorry Zordon, but we simply don't see any problems our technology cannot resolve." Lord Scimitar declared. "Still, if we must...let us put this to a vote. Those who wish to explore Zordon's findings more closely..."

No one raised their hand, only Zordon. Lord Scimitar just clapped his hands.

"Then I believe we are done here." He answered. "I will not hold any of you up any longer than I need to. Wallacia, if you wouldn't mind waiting behind, I have other matters to discuss with you. Meeting adjourned."

Zordon got up disappeared. Pythia followed him, feeling only a small measure of his frustration.

Jordan appeared back at the Library, and found that this time; Pythia was not waiting for him. Seeing a path before him illuminated, he followed it.

Over at the Wildlife Park, Noah made his way into the office, finding Quinn waiting for him. She had a huge grin on her face.

"Hey Noah, it looks like we're doing morning rounds together." She declared.

"Yeah, I was told to get a uniform?" He reminded her.

"Oh, it's just here." She told him, gesturing to some clothes on the desk. "I spent a while looking out a couple for you, this can be a messy job and..."

"Uh...Quinn?" He said. "Um...I need to change."

"Oh." She replied, before turning around. Noah just started to get undressed, realising this was probably the best he was going to get. He pulled off his T-shirt, and looked out one of the park's t-shirts.

Quinn, looking away, caught a reflection on the window, and repositioned herself to see. She bit her lip as he started to change.

"So, where's Cole?" He asked.

"He's dealing with a delivery." She told him. "The uh...waste...needs to go somewhere. We sell it to nearby garden centres as fertiliser."

"Oh, right." Noah stated, finishing getting changed. Just then, he noticed something on the edge of the table, and picked it up. "Um...Quinn, are these yours?"

"Are what mine?" She asked, turning back around. She saw Noah holding up two tickets.

"These are tickets to the dinosaur exhibit at the museum next week!" Noah told her. "These...these have been sold out for months!"

"I know, I've been trying to get some, I've tried everything!" She declared. "Wait...is that a note?"

Noah picked it up and read it.

"It says that they're a comp from one of the Wildlife Park sponsors." He told her. "Cole left a note saying he's busy, he said you can have them."

Quinn took the tickets from him, inspecting them thoughtfully, before glancing back to Noah.

"Um...there are two tickets." She reminded him. "Would you like to go?"

"Seriously?" He asked her. Quinn just offered it to him.

"Sure...if you'd like." She replied. "Would you?"

Noah just looked delighted and nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course, that would be amazing!" He stated.

"Great!" Quinn answered, unable to hide her delight. "Uh...I guess we should begin the rounds then! The birds get a little cranky if we're late feeding them."

As they left, Emily pulled back from the window, blowing the end of her Samuraizer like a gun barrel. Mike just groaned.

"I really owe Ji big time for getting those tickets." Emily stated. "I knew they just needed a little push."

"NOW can we go home?" He asked her. "Our parents don't mind looking after the farm, but I don't think they intended us to spend our time playing matchmaker to kids we don't even know."

"I'll just get a message to our accomplice." Emily assured him, before dialling her phone. "Emma, stage one is complete. It's all up to you now."


	8. The Fall of Eltar

In the Brainfreeze, Gia and Jake were sitting in a booth, watching something on a laptop computer as Troy and Emma came in. The way they were dressed, it was obvious they had been on a run together. Since getting together with him, Emma had spent a lot more time training with Troy, regularly joining him on runs or at the gym. As they arrived, they saw Gia and Jake huddled together.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see that." Emma teased them. Gia and Jake just looked at each other, before pulling apart.

"Ew, no!" Gia responded. Jake just held a hand over his chest. "Emma, gross!"

"Well, I guess I'll try not to take that too personally." He replied, feigning being hurt. It was still a little bit of a sore point for him, but he had accepted the fact that he and Gia were never going to be together. They were good friends now though; they had gotten a lot closer as a result of their time as Rangers, so he knew she didn't really mean anything by it.

"You know what I mean." Gia replied, looking to Troy and Emma. "So, working up a sweat were we?"

"Yeah, we were." Troy said with a smile. "We found a really great trail down by the lake; Emma said she's probably going to go back there with her camera. We saw a bald eagle, so she thinks there's probably a nest nearby."

"Well, at least not everything was affected by that oil spill." Gia replied gratefully.

"I need some shots to confirm the location of the nest." Emma told them. "Then I'll get the Environmental Agency onto it. We don't want her and her babies getting sick by picking up stuff from the affected area."

"Well the clean-up's already underway." Jake assured her, gesturing to the television. "We thought you might have been volunteering down there."

"Oh...um...maybe later." Emma stammered, gesturing to the screen. "So, what are you guys watching anyway?"

"Well, since we are going on Jesse's show tonight, Jake downloaded some previous shows so we could watch and know what to expect." Gia told them.

"What does it matter?" Troy asked with a shrug of his shoulders. "We know what we're saying is true, he's just trying to get a rise out of us."

"I thought the same thing, but then I saw some of the shows." Gia said, turning the computer towards them a little. "He can be pretty brutal. He's tabloid journalism at its worst, all sensationalism and emotive speeches. His shows regularly end up in massive brawls!"

"Then he goes and blames the side he's arguing against for the trouble." Jake sighed, shaking his head. "I used to love this show; it was so funny to see everyone getting all riled up like that, but now..."

"Now you're under the crosshairs it doesn't seem cool?" Cat asked as she came across, carrying a couple of large chocolate milkshakes with all the fixings. Gia pounded the last of the one she was drinking, piling the glasses on the tray, before taking the fresh ones.

"Thanks Cat." She answered, kissing her girlfriend softly on the cheek. "We appreciate it."

"Wow, the chocolate bomb supreme?" Emma asked, noting the concoction before them. "It must be bad."

"Huh?" Troy asked.

"Gia's a chocoholic; she tries to stay off it." Emma explained. "She only hits it this hard when she's depressed."

"Um...better make that two more Cat." Troy added as he and Emma sat down. As they continued to watch, Jake noted Cat taking a dessert over to a table in the corner. A girl was sitting there on her own, reading a magazine. She had only just lowered it enough for Jake to see her face.

"Wait, guys, is that...is that Allison Drake?" He asked. Emma just glanced up and shrugged.

"I guess so." She answered, in a slightly cold tone. She saw the way Troy was looking a little confused. "We don't exactly get along. Last term she had a tree removed from the school car park to make a couple more spaces. She thought parking twenty feet closer to the school was more important than the family of birds living in the tree."

"Wait...the cheerleader?" Gia asked him. "Didn't she miss like...nearly all of the last three months of the school term? I thought she must have left town."

"So did I." Jake replied, beginning to straighten out his clothes and his hair. Gia just rolled her eyes.

"Oh give me a break." She replied. "Seriously Jake?"

"You can do so much better." Emma agreed. She looked around the table. "I don't like talking badly about people, but seriously, she's a vacuous, self-important snob. She missed three months of school, but no doubt she's coming back into our year."

"Really?" Troy asked, looking over. "She's that good a student?"

"Did you ever wonder why the school library is called the Drake Library?" Gia asked, raising an eyebrow. "Her daddy's credit cards have gotten her out of a lot of trouble over the years."

"Look, you guys just don't know her; she went to all the soccer games. She was always nice to me." Jake responded. "Um...I've already seen all of these, so...you guys go ahead..."

With that, he headed over to Allison's table, leaving the others to continue their research.

"Wow, this guy is a problem." Troy commented, taking his milkshake. "Uh...keep them coming Cat. I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty depressed soon too."

As Jake made his way over to Allison's table, he leaned over, smiling at her. Allison was always in competition for Gia as the hottest girl in school, generally being considered just behind her most of the time. She was dark skinned, being of part Hispanic descent, with long, dark hair she had pulled back out of her face. She was wearing a designer denim jacket over a red t-shirt, and had very tight denims, showing off her shape. She just put down the magazine, looking a little annoyed.

"Look, you're in my light..." Her words tailed off as she saw Jake. "Jake, hi! Um...sorry about that, I've been pretty on edge about going back to school."

"You're coming back?" Jake asked her. "I thought you'd left town."

"I did for a while, but dad's business brought us back." She told him. "Have a seat."

Jake did as he was asked, looking to her.

"So...you're coming back to school?" He asked her.

"Senior year." She responded. "Thank God there's only one year left."

"So...are you going to go back to the cheerleading squad?" He asked her. "They really missed you heading up their routines. They got creamed at nationals for the first time in years!" She just shook her head.

"I don't think I'm exactly welcome there now." She told him. "I had to shut down my Twitter because of all the girls saying I betrayed them. You don't even want to see the E-mails I've gotten."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." He told her. She looked over to the table.

"So, I saw you with Gia." Allison commented. "So I guess you finally won her over? So, how long have you two...?"

"You mean you didn't...?" He started to say, before shaking his head. "No, we're not together, we're just friends."

He shifted a little closer to her.

"You know, the coach is having try outs for the soccer team at the weekend." He told her. "Would you maybe like to come and watch?"

"I...I really don't think I'll be watching too much sports this year." She replied.

"So...maybe a movie or something?" He asked her with a smile. Allison looked to him, chewing her lip intently, like she was thinking about it.

"I...um...I really don't think so." She told him. Jake's face slipped as he looked a little disappointed. "Look, I'll see you at school alright?"

"Jake." Troy called out, gesturing him over. Jake just looked back to his friends, and reluctantly walked away.

Back in the Library, Jordan found the memory he was looking for, and activated it. He found himself back on Eltar, but this time the place was almost completely beyond recognition. The once-range skies were now almost completely blocked out by thick, dark clouds, like someone had scorched the entire sky. The streets were filled with a miasma of mist that obscured the once-beautiful city, and the people...well...he could hardly see any. Those he could see were a mere shadow of their former selves, badly emaciated, frail-looking, and moving around like they were on their last breaths.

Jordan found himself in the Council Chamber once more, standing at the side, seeing Lord Scimitar standing, looking out over the city. He walked over, taking a look at what he was looking at. Three ships were being prepared for take-off. Jordan saw the way people were lined up, being checked onto the ship by security forces, and recognised what this was. It was an evacuation. While they were large the ships were clearly nowhere near large enough to take the population of an entire planet.

Zordon appeared behind him, looking enraged.

"You see...you see what has become of us?" Zordon demanded as he approached. "The last of your experiments have completely destroyed our atmosphere! The skies alone are now toxic!"

"Yes, I know." Scimitar replied, turning to face him. Zordon looked horrified to see Scimitar smiling. "Zordon, you were troublesome, no matter how many times I fed the others that line about there always being a solution, how our planet would always survive, you just wouldn't accept it would you?"

"Scimitar?" Zordon asked, looking somewhat confused.

"The truth is Zordon, things are much bleaker than you had ever imagined. Our kind has evolved as far as it can." He continued as he started to pace. "The fall in birth statistics, the birth defects, the mutations...you were so concerned about the pollution that you missed one important component in the whole thing. We are beginning to show signs of Symmetry."

Zordon just looked completely stunned hearing this. He had indeed been focussed on the effects their technology was having on the planet and the climate, but his work in genetics was only very basic compared to Scimitar's.

"The Symmetry Effect?" Zordon asked him, immediately beginning to realise what he was saying. The Symmetry Effect was a term in genetics that referred to the point in a species' development when there was too little genetic variance between members of that species. Eventually, because so little new genetic material was being created, the species was doomed to fall as birth defects became more common, and their lack of individual strengths and immunities made them vulnerable to plague. One virus or climate shift, while normally stopped by individuals having an unusually high resistance or ability to adapt to new conditions meaning that some of them would survive; genetic symmetry would mean that the same virus or climate shift would devastate the whole species. "We...we are..."

"Within three generations, our kind will no longer even be recognisable, and completely incapable of survival. You were right about one thing Zordon, we are aging towards extinction, but it is coming a lot sooner than you think." Scimitar explained. "Of course, if I told the people that, then they would just panic, futile efforts would be made to create treatments using our own pathetically slow methods. That is why I sought a different solution."

He held up his right hand, and it started to glow bright red. Zordon just looked to him in horror.

"Sorcery?" He demanded. "But...its practices were outlawed by our ancestors..."

"And look where that got them!" Scimitar sneered. "Some of your supporters found themselves on the front line of the Xybrian/Triforian war on 'peace keeping' missions in the most dangerous regions, all the while my followers, the ones I knew I could trust, were working on creating my greatest ritual yet."

"Ritual?" Zordon asked. He looked to the window, and saw the planet, tearing itself apart, and realised what he meant. "You're offering up your own species as a sacrifice!"

"Only the ones that will never see the wisdom of my ways!" He roared. "The rest will make themselves a new home on a new world, where with my power enhanced to levels you cannot imagine, I will create our kind anew! Stronger, healthier, more brilliant than ever! The rest of the universe will fall to their knees and worship us as the architects of the new universe!"

"And they will all worship you!" Zordon surmised, drawing his sword. "I will not let this stand Scimitar. I will stop you! Pythia and I..."

"Ah yes, Pythia." He responded, pulling a piece of cloth from his robes and throwing it on the floor. It was stained in blood. Zordon felt overcome by rage as he recognised it as part of Pythia's robe. "It was a shame really. She was so close to figuring everything out. I just couldn't let her warn you too soon. I was hoping to leave a message as the ships left."

"You...you MONSTER!" Zordon raged, rushing towards Scimitar, only to find himself blasted to the floor by an unseen hand. He struggled to his feet as Wallacia de-activated her cloaking device. She was wearing black armour, powered by a large, red ruby in the chest...Eltarian battle armour, a mechanical rig that turned a single Eltarian into the match of an entire army, but the power she blasted him with was alien to him. He saw her hands glowing with the same unnatural energy.

"You!" Zordon snarled.

"You don't think I'm going to stay on this dirtball when it all burns do you?" She asked him, standing between Zordon and Scimitar. "Look on the bright side. Your fate will be quick, unlike the fate that awaits the miserable wretches we leave behind."

As she raised her hands over her head, Zordon activated the power field in his sword. As she cast forth the blast, he swing, batting the blast back her way. Wallacia was quick enough to avoid it, but Scimitar was caught full on by the blast. His robes disintegrated and the room was filled with horrifying cries and the smell of burned flesh.

"Lord Scimitar!" Wallacia screamed, seeing what she had done. Zordon took the opportunity presented by the distraction and teleported for home. Wallacia stood over her lord, looking horrified by what she saw. She looked devastated, until Scimitar lifted a hand, a badly charred hand, with flesh almost completely burned from it. She looked horrified to think he was still alive in this state.

"Wallacia...help me!" He breathed out weakly. "My ship!"

"Of course, My Lord." She replied, using her power to encase him in an energy bubble and levitating his almost completely lifeless form off the ground.

"My staff of office." He reminded her. Wallacia picked it up, looking to it as she saw it was damaged. Pieces of the square housing the cross and the cross itself had been blasted away. Looking to the icon now...it looked just like a letter Z.

"Come my lord, there is not much time." She told him as they left the room. In a flash of light, Jordan found himself back in the Library. This time, Pythia was waiting for him. He just looked to her.

"You were murdered?" He asked her.

"I was working closely with Wallacia on a project." She told him. "When I realised what she was up to, she killed me before I could reach Zordon."

"What...what was it like?" Jordan asked her. The fact she was still in his mother's form made this a question he wanted to know the answer to. "You know...dying?"

"It only hurt for a moment in my case." Pythia told him. "Though I suspect its not me you really want to know about is it?"

Jordan just shook his head, before turning his attention to the paths.

"This one...this leads to...this leads to Earth doesn't it?" He asked her. She smiled.

"Now how would you know that?" She asked him.

"Well...I don't know...the glyphs..." He stammered, trying to explain it. The glyphs were starting to almost speak to him, like he was reading English. "Am I starting...how can I read...?"

As he turned back, Pythia was gone. He just tensed his fists in frustration.

"Why the hell do you keep doing that?" He screamed into the air. "Is one straight answer too much to ask?"

With that, he turned and started to follow the path to the next memory.

The Rangers assembled in the Command Centre, waiting for the last of their number to arrive. Although the show started at six, they knew that the rehearsals and preparations would probably begin a couple of hours earlier. Noah finally appeared.

"Sorry guys, I couldn't get away." He told them. "I finished work a while back, but Quinn just kept talking about the dinosaur exhibit we're going to this weekend. I needed to make some excuses to get away so I could teleport."

"Really?" Emma asked innocently. Emily had already tipped her off to the plan. "That...that thing's pretty high end isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's a big deal. I never thought I would get tickets. You can't get those things for love nor money." Noah told them. "The Wildlife Park's sponsor gave them to us for some reason...can't think why?"

"Well, we have more important things to worry about." Troy reminded them. "Right guys, remember, just mind what you say, and whatever he pulls, and don't rise to anything."

They morphed, and teleported to the television studios. Jesse was just in his chair getting make up when he saw them.

"Well, this IS a surprise." He stated. "I didn't think you'd show!"

"You invited us remember?" Troy asked him.

"Yeah, we weren't going to just sit and let you take pot shots at us on television all night without telling our side of the story." Jake chipped in.

"Well, can we get you anything?" He asked. "Make up? Coffee?"

"Not an issue." Gia stated, tapping her helmet. "Just tell us when we're on."

"Virginia!" He called out, gesturing over one of the many production workers. "Find a changing room for our guests of honour. Let them prepare for the show in private."

As they left, his producer came over in a panic.

"Jesse, what are you doing?" She asked him. "We haven't prepared for them actually showing up!"

"You worry too much." Jesse told her. "My show was going to be a ratings smash before when it was just RUMOURED the Rangers would be on the show. Now they're actually here, people will turn onto us in droves!"

"But we haven't prepared for them actually BEING here!" She reminded him. "What if something happens in the audience? Not to mention you haven't prepared any questions!"

"Please, when has that ever been an issue for me? I'll improvise." He said with a shrug. "When it comes to PR, I'm a God given talent. I could have made Vlad the Impaler look like a saint, and Ghandi the biggest pariah on the planet."

"Jesse, maybe we should reschedule." She suggested.

"Are you kidding? This show is just what I need to get off this crappy local network and go national!" He told her. "I don't care if the entire alien fleet comes down in the middle of the broadcast, nothing is stopping this show!"


	9. The Last Sons of Eltar

Inside the Library, Jordan made his way through. He was finding all the memories he was having more than a little confusing. He had no idea why he needed to know about the fall of Eltar, why he was being shown these things, stories from a day thousands of years ago. How did they relate to him? Why was he still here?

He then got to a memory, but this one was different than the others. This time, the orb was glowing a lot more dimly than the others. As he moved a little closer, approaching it, he saw that it wasn't a complete orb at all. It was broken, sections of it were missing. On the shelf beneath it, the fragments were sitting, lifeless and inert. They looked almost like normal pieces of glass, just sitting there. The entire memory was surrounded by a thin, barely visible mist. He felt a pull towards this memory, and he remembered Pythia's words. Memories were broken, his mind and the Robo Knight's were falling in on each other. Seizing the broken memory, he found himself brought inside.

Here, he found himself on a ship, blasting away from Eltar. It was clear it wasn't long after the battle he had seen before. Zordon's robes still bore the scorch marks left on it by Wallacia's attack, though he now had fresh injuries too. As the ship left, Zordon stood by the window, looking back on his former home world. Jordan could swear he saw tears in his face as the planet disappeared in the distance. He turned back to his modest crew; five other Eltarians were standing, wearing battle armour, and carrying weapons. One of them was sitting on a bench, missing an arm, while another was busy grafting a bionic replacement in place. The other three showed severe injuries too. All of them looked dejected, morose, like they had just entered a nightmare. Jordan knew what they were facing, and could tell that wasn't far from the mark.

"We were unable to stop the traitor Scimitar's ship, but we did destroy those of his other followers." Zordon recanted to them.

"My Lord, what of Eltar?" One of them asked. "With no remaining ships..."

"I am afraid that we had little choice. Scimitar's parting gift was to release a toxin into the upper atmosphere. He sealed the fate of our people." Zordon explained. "It is only good fortune that I had this ship prepared."

"So you mean that we...?"

"I do not know where Lord Scimitar and Wallacia have gone, though I have my suspicions. Other than that though, the inhabitants of this ship stand as the last sons of Eltar." Zordon confirmed sadly, looking around the room. His followers, the ones he had convinced to follow him were not many in number, though they did stand as some of the most gifted, if young members of their race. "I am sure it has not been lost on you that there are no females among our number."

He clutched the little piece of Pythia's robe. He took a moment to compose himself.

"I am afraid; this spells the end for the Eltarian people. I am afraid we can no longer ignore the inevitability of extinction." He told them. "It is what we do with our remaining time that will determine our legacy to the universe."

"What would you have us do?" The one having a new arm crafted asked. Zordon just looked to him.

"We will use our remaining time to guide developing systems, to ensure that what happened to our kind never happens anywhere else." He told them. "The old ways, using and enforcing our will on other species is what led to our downfall. From now on, we will instead use our technology and the wisdom gained with the blood of our kin to guide the new worlds, but allowing them to reach enlightenment themselves."

There was a hush from the others as they realised the gravity of his words. The Eltarians were a long-lived race, barring war, illness or other mishap; life spans of tens of hundreds of thousands of years were not unknown. There were even rumours of those that had lived into their millions. The crew Zordon had with him were younger than him by a significant margin, the youngest not even two thousand, but they were also young enough that they had not been fully indoctrinated into the old ways. It was the reason Zordon was gambling the hopes of the future of the Eltarian legacy on these men.

"We will be arriving on Aquitar soon, and from there we will scatter to the far reaches of the universe." He told them, waving a hand over a console. It revealed more Eltarian glyphs...Jordan somehow noticed that they were co-ordinates. "I have assigned each of you a domain within a galaxy. Where you choose to reside is up to you. I am trusting you all with the development of your sector. I will live out my days in the Milky Way galaxy. There is a promising species that is forming there I will see to personally."

Just then, Jordan saw the background starting to flicker, and heard sounds of battle. Tumbling through the fuzzy haze, he saw the Robo Knight. As the Robo Knight got to his feet, he looked around, completely confused.

"What..where am I?" It asked. It looked straight at Jordan. "Who are you?"

"Wait...you can see me?" Jordan asked. "This...this isn't right; the Robo Knight can't be here! Zordon didn't create it until he reached Earth!"

"Where have you brought me?" Robo Knight asked him. "Tell me! I demand you release me!"

"Wait...you think I brought you here?" Jordan asked him. "I don't even know why I'm here! I...wait, why don't you know who I am? We were..."

Just then, the Robo Knight punched Jordan, sending him flying. He went through another wall that was glitching out, seeing the lines of code that made the memory data up. He landed on the floor, finding that he was now in another chamber, where another Eltarian was sitting by a bench, one he hadn't seen before. He was working on some form of device. Jordan noted that this Eltarian looked a little different than the others. His flesh didn't have the same luminance as the others, seeming almost pale and just short of lifeless. His eyes were slightly reddened, and his hair was pure white, and extended all the way down to the small of his back. His spidery fingers worked on the device with amazing dexterity.

Zordon came into the room, wearing a sort of breathing apparatus. As he stepped in, Jordan noticed he had stepped through the door, Jordan saw that it was an air-lock. He got to his feet as Zordon approached him. He could hear the sounds of gunfire from the other room, and realised that in its confusion, the Robo Knight had to be attacking the other Eltarians. He knew that as memories, his actions could not affect them, but was thankful for the distraction.

Zordon approached the other Eltarian, and Jordan just felt like this was what he was here to see. He noted the breathing apparatus, and suddenly something in him remembered. Zordon's son was unable to breathe in the Eltarian atmosphere. This was Zordon's son.

"It will not be much longer." Zordon told him. "The journey will be a few days..."

"Days, years...what does it matter?" The other Eltarian sighed. "When all I see every day are the same four walls, it doesn't make much difference."

"I know it has been frustrating for you my son, forced to live in this place, but where we're going, there will be no council to answer to." Zordon told him, handing him an energy orb. The other Eltarian inspected it, and saw the plans within.

"This...this is..."

"It was something I was working on." Zordon told him. "The atmosphere on the planet we're going to is over seventy percent nitrogen, the reason I chose that planet as the one I would oversee. It is not enough to support your life without aid, but this design, this rig; it will allow you to live out with this cell you have inhabited for all these years."

"I will really be able to walk the lands?" His son asked, looking up to him hopefully.

"If you would like, and you will have a whole new world to explore and study." Zordon told him with a smile. "We both will, my son."

"I have...I have always dreamed of such a day!" His son answered. "Thank you father!"

"You are welcome Gosei." Zordon replied, stroking his son's shoulders. He looked to the device on the bench. "Now, what is this you're working on?"

"Just a little something to help us defend our new home." Gosei informed him. "I based it on the Sentinel Knight, and it influenced the name. I would like you to meet the Robo Knight."

"Show me my son." Zordon said proudly, inspecting his son's work.

Just then, the Robo Knight stepped through the wall, and aimed his blaster at Jordan. He threw his hands up to shield himself, but as he did, he suddenly got a thought.

"Wait...this can't happen." Jordan stated. "The Robo Knight, the original Robo Knight...it was destroyed!"

He ducked aside as the Robo Knight fired at him. Although the Robo Knight's actions couldn't affect the memories, he wasn't willing to take the chance they could incinerate him. He tried to recall all he could.

"Why is the Robo Knight in this memory? He was created on Earth!" Jordan stated, before he looked around. The room was starting to break up into lines of code and fragments of data. The memory was collapsing under the strain. "Wait...Robo Knight...he wasn't the first one, the first one was created as a pure robot! Zordon destroyed it because it couldn't determine innocents from the guilty!"

The memory started to reform, just in time as Robo Knight came for him, but walked into a wall that was re-forming in front of him. Jordan just thought about it.

"Gosei...he must have created the original as a guardian for him and his father before they got to Earth." He surmised. "If the second Robo Knight was based on it, it might have this memory as part of its original programming. That's it, isn't it? That's what you want me to figure out!"

Jordan found himself violently expelled by the memory, landing on his butt on the floor of the Library. The memory and the fragments floated off the shelf, before reforming in a blinding flash of light, and taking their place back on the shelf. Jordan got up and started to approach it, inspecting it.

"Your minds are fractured, you both have shared memories." Pythia explained, causing him to jump in fright at her unannounced arrival. "Here is just one of the memories where your fate and that of the Robo Knight intertwined."

"But how?" Jordan asked. "This had to happen like...over ten thousand years ago, I wasn't born yet!"

"So, are we ready to move on?" Pythia asked as she disappeared. Jordan just shook his head.

"God, I hate when she does that." Jordan stated, before going in search of the next memory. Having found the first of the broken memories, he had a feeling that his quest was only going to get harder.

At the TV studio, the Rangers were waiting in the changing room. They didn't really have much to do to get ready, in order to maintain their secret identities, they had arrived morphed. Jake was drumming his fingers on the desk, while Noah was pacing intently.

"How much longer are they going to keep us waiting here?" Gia sighed in exasperation. "The show's got to be starting soon."

"Something tells me they really weren't expecting us to turn up." Troy said in response, beginning to play with an apple from the fruit bowl. He didn't really know why, wearing the helmet, he couldn't eat it, but he just needed SOMETHING to do. This was a battle that troubled him, because it was a battlefield he was completely unprepared for. His time as a Ranger had prepared him to face any foe face-to-face, but in a televised debate, he wasn't so sure.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Emma asked, looking around them. "I mean, this guy makes a career out of smearing people's good names on television. None of us have done anything like this."

"Emma, if we don't do this, it just means he gets to say what he likes without our input." Troy answered. Just then, the door opened and a guy walked in. He was about Troy's height, and had a good build. He had chiselled features, and a strong jaw. He looked around the team and furrowed his brows.

"So, you guys are already here, sorry I'm late." He said, coming inside and putting down his bag. "The traffic was murder, so where's my..."

His words tailed off as he looked around the room.

"Wait, what gives?" He asked.

"Um...we were wondering the same thing." Gia commented.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked the new arrival.

"Well, there are five of you!" He stated.

"Yeah, of course there are." Jake stated. "Have you been living under a rock? There have always been five Megaforce Rangers."

"I know, I was meant to be one of them!" He replied, looking to Noah. "You, you're kind of scrawny, what did they do, pay a sound guy to put on the suit?"

"Hey!" Noah yelled at the insult.

"I can't believe they re-cast me! I have a contract damn it!" The new arrival roared. "That's it; I'm looking for Jesse to straighten this out! I'm calling my agent; I am SO suing him for this!"

As he stormed out, Gia just looked to the others.

"What was that about?" She asked.

Just then, the door opened again. This time it was Jesse's producer.

"OK guys, the show's about to start." She told them, coming in and closing the door. "Look, just try to keep keep calm, treat it like any other conversation."

"We're really not used to a public Q&A." Troy told her. The producer looked around, before pulling in closer.

"Look, just between us, I really don't like what he's doing." She told them. "You guys rescued me from the first monster attack at the beginning of the year. You remember, the one that didn't grow afterwards? I was trapped in my car, if it wasn't for you guys..."

"It's what we do." Troy assured her.

"Well, if it means anything I'm on the pro-Ranger side. As far as I'm concerned, you guys are heroes." She told him. "It's my job to do as he asks, but that doesn't mean to say I have to like it."

"We understand, we kind of got the impression this was a bit of a lynch mob." Emma answered sympathetically.

"Well, some of the audience are on your side too." She assured them. "He says it's for balanced debates, but he deliberately fills the audience with hot heads on both sides. Any time there's a mass brawl in the audience, his ratings spike."

"Well, I guess security didn't come here for nothing then." Jake sighed as he got off his seat. "So, where do you want us?"

"Just this way." She answered, taking them from the changing room, through the back lot of the studio. Emma had to do a double-take as she saw someone wheeling a trolley past them. It was covered with a sheet, but she caught a glimpse of what looked like a replica of the Black Ranger's helmet underneath, slightly exposed.

"So, have any of you watched the show before?" She asked.

"We saw some re-runs." Gia assured her.

"Well, usually he begins with a lead-in, and then he'll probably introduce you." She informed them. "He'll show a video montage, you'll see it on the big screen, and then he'll start with some questions before opening up to the audience."

"That's the part I'm really not looking forward to." Noah stated.

"Well, we'll be starting soon; we're just running through the last of the commercials." She told them, leading them to an area just off the stage. "Just wait here until he calls you out. Good luck."

As she left, they caught sight of the man who walked into the changing room earlier being dragged away by security as Jesse came towards them.

"We had a contract Jesse; you haven't heard the last of this!" He screamed. "My agent's calling my lawyer Jesse; you haven't heard the last of this!"

As he was led away, Jesse just laughed and shook his head, making his way towards the stage.

"It seems you're popular today." Jake commented.

"It comes with being in the public eye, I'm sure you understand." He chuckled. "Anyway, I better get in position. This promises to be a great show."

As he went onto the stage, Emma and the others glanced around the corner. The stage was set up, with a row of large, black leather armchairs, with a massive screen on the wall at the back.

Out in front were rows and rows of chairs, all filled with people, sitting waiting for the show to begin as the warm-up guy started to get them riled up ready for the beginning. Around half the audience was filled with people wearing shirts or carrying banners in support of the Rangers, the other half...they were already jeering and looking evilly at them. Noah gulped.

"There must be at least a hundred people out there!" He stated, looking to the others, a little worried. "Anyone get the feeling this is a huge mistake?"

"It's too late to worry about that now." Troy answered as the show's theme tune started to play, sending the audience into a frenzy as the warm-up guy came off stage quickly, hoping to get out before the audience got too out of hand. "We're on."


	10. The Blood Knight

At the Goodall place, Eric had just come home after a long day at the office. Things had been going pretty well for his company, Cerberus Professional Security. For a while, things didn't look so good. After the attack at the Chemical Plant, and a number of press articles, people had called into question his abilities and those of his company. However, thanks to some stellar work from his PR department, and a few testimonials from a number of prominent people, including the office of the President who currently had four of his former employees on his personal detail with the Secret Services, things had turned around. In fact, many of his clients had upgraded their packages as a response to the recent attacks.

He went to the kitchen, grabbing a beer out of the fridge, before pressing the button on his answering machine.

"Hi dad, it's me." Emma's voice stated. "I'm out doing stuff with the guys, so I won't be home for dinner. I've left a tuna pasta bake in the fridge; just heat it in the microwave. I'll see you later."

He just smiled and went to the Living room. He was more than a little used to Emma being out most of the time anyway, between all her environmental group meetings and her nature photography, but since the beginning of the year, he was happy that she had expanded her circle of friends. He loved his daughter dearly, he loved both the girls, and he had to admit that despite all the dramas since the alien invasion had begun, this year had been really good for both of them.

He flopped down on the couch, and turned on the TV to a guilty pleasure of his, the Jesse Miles show. He never watched it around Emma, but when she was out, he loved watching it. The stories were always so outlandish, and his interview style so confrontational, that it was car-crash television at its best. With a guest list and studio audience chosen from polar opposites of the social spectrum, and seemingly chosen specifically for being the wildest and most hostile of their view combined with a security staff that seemed to be more for show than anything else, the show was a circus most nights, and full on brawls were the norm.

He opened his beer and settled back to watch. His colleagues had been talking about the fact he was advertising an interview with the Rangers all day. Eric was sure that it would be entertaining.

As the last commercial was starting to run before the show, he heard a knock on the door. He got up and headed over, expecting some kind of market research or salesman, but was pleasantly surprised when he found Louise standing on the doorstep.

"Louise?" He asked.

"I was just in the neighbourhood." She told him. "I wanted to tell you something."

"We do work in the same building." He reminded her.

"It's kind of personal." She assured him. "Can I come in?"

Eric just showed her inside, closing the door behind her. She saw the television and smiled.

"Channel Seven, you're watching the Jesse Miles show?" She asked.

"Yeah, Emma's out for the night." He told her as he gestured to the couch. He was about to go for the handset to switch it off, but Louise stopped him.

"Don't you dare, I love this show!" She warned him. "The Rangers are supposed to be on tonight."

"That's why I was watching too." Eric commented. "So, what can I help you with?"

"Isn't it customary to offer your guest a drink?" She asked him. Eric just headed to the fridge, getting her another beer and handing it to her.

"Sorry, it's all I have." He continued. She took a sip, putting the beer down on the table, before getting a letter out of her purse. She handed it to Eric, allowing him to read it. He checked it over, before looking to her in surprise.

"Is this real?" He asked her. She just nodded.

"It seems Gerald had a change of heart." She told him. "His attorney's dropping the affair allegations. He must have decided there wasn't enough evidence and that it would do him more harm than good going through with the claim."

"This is your...your final declaration." Eric continued. "He granted you the divorce?"

"My attorney says that as of this morning, I am officially single again." She replied.

"Wow, I don't really know what to say to that." Eric said honestly. "Congratulations doesn't seem right, but..."

"How about you don't say anything?" She asked, patting the couch next to her. "How about we just watch the show, it's about to start."

"I guess that works." Eric agreed, before sitting down with her.

In the Library, Jordan found what he was looking for, the next broken memory. Like the previous one, pieces of it littered the floor, and the main body of it was leaking a thin mist. He took a deep breath before grabbing it and heading inside.

He found himself in an ancient city, which was lying in ruins. The air was thick with smoke, and flames climbed high into the sky. He recognised the sky and the stars, indicating that he was on Earth, but he had no idea exactly where, or more importantly when. The streets beneath him were paved with san, indicating he was in a desert of some description. Seeing some corpses nearby, burned and almost unrecognisable, he approached, finding one that still had enough of its clothing left that he saw it dressed in robes, indicating some ancient time, possibly Greece, or Rome...maybe Egypt...

He heard a blast, and looked down the street, seeing a dark, shadowy figure blasting some of the buildings apart. He recognised the silhouette as being the Robo Knight. Remembering the presence of the Robo Knight in his last memory, he didn't know if it was a memory, or the 'real' one, the one that saw and could harm him. He pulled back into a ruined building out of sight.

The Robo Knight marched down the street, looking for more victims. As he fired off another blast, Jordan saw the building he fired on collapsing; he satisfied himself that this Robo Knight was a memory. It did bring something to mind though, seeing the attack, he felt ill to his stomach. The Robo Knight had caused this destruction, this bloodshed. Looking at these people, he had to wonder what crime they could have committed that would have warranted such brutality, this act of cold blooded genocide.

The Robo Knight was blasted back as a warrior came into view, almost completely obscured by thick, white robes that covered almost all his body. What little Jordan could see underneath was black, Eltarian battle armour.

The new arrival, the new warrior charged up an energy blade, which he swung for the Robo Knight as he brought around his blaster. The blade sliced through his arm, causing it and the blaster to fall to the ground, exposing wiring and electronics. Jordan was a little relieved to realise that this Robo Knight was the one that came before, the one that didn't have a human host. It was always his nightmare that he could end up causing something like this under the armour's influence.

The battle raged on a little while longer, before the warrior eventually brought the Robo Knight down, slicing off his legs. Spinning his blade skilfully, he brought it down; obliterating what was left of it. He stood over the wreckage, and fell to his knees. Another being arrived, one that Jordan recognised as Zordon.

"What of the others?" The hooded figure asked. Zordon just shook his head.

"I am afraid it is just like Gomorrah." Zordon told him sadly. "No one survived."

"At least my creation cannot do anything like this again." The hooded figure said sadly. Jordan realised that the hooded figure had to be Gosei. He remembered that Gosei had been the one to create the Robo Knight. He had built it as a guardian of the Earth, but from the looks of things, it had gone badly wrong. The image flickered, and Jordan started looking around, realising that this was where the memory had to be broken. "All this is my fault, all this blood is on my hands."

The images of Zordon and Gosei distorted and paused, before breaking up into lines of code. The flames stopped...the whole memory did. It was like there was no more data. Jordan was immediately on his guard, waiting for the real Robo Knight to show up. He didn't have to wait long. As it arrived, it started to swing its Robo Blade, the blade passing through the images of Zordon and Gosei.

"Traitors!" It called out as it attacked. "You impede me in my duties; you are enemies of the Earth..."

Jordan just kept his head down, staying out of sight. The machine was still going haywire, unable to tell friend from foe. It was confused and its incomplete memories left it with no way to believe that they were anything other than enemies. It had just watched them destroy it after all.

"No, they didn't destroy this one; it was the previous one, the robot one." Jordan surmised. "Wait...Zordon said something about Gomorrah...as in...Sodom and Gomorrah? Robo Knight caused them?"

More of the memory started to take shape, and some of it started moving again.

"That's why they recreated it...with a human host, so that something like this wouldn't happen." Jordan surmised. He watched the remainder of the scene.

"We all have blood on our hands as a result of mistakes." Zordon assured Gosei. "Your idea was a good one, the Earth needs defenders, but perhaps taking humanity out of the decision is not the best idea?"

"How will we proceed from here?" Gosei asked. "How will the humans ever trust us after this?"

"Humans are remarkable creatures, they have a way of...creating explanations for what they don't understand." Zordon replied, waving his hand and causing the wreckage of the Robo Knight to disappear. "For now, it is best we keep our assistance only to those we can rely on to understand our intent if not our actions."

The memory started to fade, and the Robo Knight saw Jordan just as the buildings started to fade out. Jordan, seeing a portal, he made a run for it, diving through as the Robo Knight fired its shot. He landed on the floor of the Library, and covered up, but as he opened his eyes, all he saw was Pythia standing over him.

"I would have expected your landings to be getting better by now." She taunted him, blowing smoke from her hand. Jordan just looked to her in confusion.

"Did...did you just catch that blast?" Jordan asked her.

"I keep telling you, its power of the mind that matters here, not power of the body." She answered, dusting her hand off on her jeans like she had just swatted a fly. "So I expect you would be able to pick up a book of matches or..."

"OK, enough of the insults." Jordan told her. "So, Gosei created the original Robo Knight, it couldn't see anything but elimination of enemies, and it destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah as a result, so they built the new one that used a human host...the one that formed the basis of the Ranger technology!"

Pythia just stared at him blankly.

"Wow...I thought it would take you a lot longer to figure that out." She stated. "Now, there is one more memory for you to see."

"So I'm nearly done?" He asked. Pythia just smiled and disappeared. "God Damn it, will you quit doing that?"

As he looked to the floor, finding another path lighting up, he prepared for the journey. However, just as he was about to go, he felt another presence. He just sighed and turned around.

"Look, make up your mind, are you here or...?" His words tailed off as he saw the Robo Knight standing before him. "Oh shit!"

He turned and ran as the Robo Knight started to pursue him. He had been warned that things were going to get more difficult, but the last thing he needed was Robo Knight pursuing him. It was hard enough to navigate the library as it was. The last thing he needed was the psychotic Robo Knight coming for him along with it. As he turned a corner, it fired a blast which sent memory spheres flying off the shelves. To his relief, none of them broke. This whole nightmare had begun as a result of broken memories; he could live without having more to do to repair what was left of both their minds.

As he got to another aisle, he realised he was a couple of aisles too far from the memory. He went to the end of the aisle and looked down, seeing the Robo Knight. Steeling himself, he took the only action he could think of.

Climbing to the top of the shelves, he jumped to the next. Robo Knight saw him and started to pursue him, firing up at him. Jordan kept sprinting, leaping form shelf to shelf as he did, trying to keep his composure despite the blasts whizzing past him. He launched himself down into the correct aisle, landing next to the correct memory just as Robo Knight rounded the corner. Jordan seized the memory, disappearing just as the shot came, narrowly missing him as he disappeared.

Over at the TV studio, the Rangers were waiting on their cue. Eventually, one of the camera men gestured to Jesse they were on.

"Good evening Harwood!" Jesse declared with a smile. "Tonight, we have a very special show. As you know, tonight we were planning to have a show dedicated to Harwood's resident team of vigilantes, the Power Rangers."

"Yeah, this sounds like it'll be unbiased and balanced." Jake muttered as Jesse addressed the audience.

"We were, until a short time ago simply planning an open floor discussion, but as of half an hour ago, it seems that the Rangers have kindly accepted my invitation to appear on the show!"

The crowd erupted, some of them cheering and whistling, some of them looking like they were ready to break out the pitchforks and burning torches. Jake looked around the audience.

"Do any of them look like they're armed with poop bags?" He asked. Noah just chuckled.

"I don't think so." He replied. "Hey, there are some kids from class here."

"There's Cat!" Gia said excitedly, pointing to the front row, where Cat seemed to be leading the cheers, dressed in a Yellow Ranger t-shirt.

"Quinn's here too." Emma chipped in, pointing to the audience. "And...oh, look, Allison's here."

"Front row, what a surprise." Gia said sarcastically. "I wonder how much she paid for that ticket."

"So, without further ado, let's bring them in, the Megaforce Rangers!" Jesse announced, at which they found themselves being shoved towards the stage by a stage hand. They made their way out, heading up to Jesse and politely shaking his hand, before sitting down. Jesse then turned back to the crowd.

"So, without further ado, we open up all our usual communication lines, tweet, e-mail, facebook, text or call as we open up the discussion, Rangers, are they saviours? Or are they well-meaning, but unqualified and unsanctioned amateurs with dangerous weapons? Tonight, you decide."

He made his way over to the Rangers as the crowd continued to yell and call out, before addressing the Rangers.

"Now, before we begin...this is a situation I've not found myself in before with guests...I don't actually know your names." He began. "So, what do I call you all?"

Troy and the others began by looking at each other, trying to figure out how to approach the question.

"Umm...I guess...using our colours would be for the best." Troy stated. Jesse just smiled.

"Of course, I can understand why you want to remain anonymous." He stated. "I suppose in your position I wouldn't want to show myself either."

"Just a..."

"We have a short video compilation to begin the show with." Jesse interrupted Troy. "Why don't we all have a look at some of the fine work the Rangers have been doing since showing up in February?"

As he cued the video package, the Rangers just settled into their seats and once again questioned exactly how wise this course of action was.

Back at the Goodall place, Eric and Louise were watching as the video package ran. It did indeed show a lot of the Rangers' battles, but it wasn't really the most flattering of footage.

"It looks like he's already made his mind up which side he's on." Louise commented.

"Yeah, and I can't say I like it too much." Eric commented. "We have a lot to be thankful to the Rangers for."

"It's not like everyone would do the things they would." Louise agreed. "And Lord knows you know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a biased press."

"It wasn't too bad." He said with a little smile. "Sure, it's annoying, but I was always more worried what it was doing to you and the girls."

"It looks like they're coming back." Louise told him. Eric just turned his attention back to the monitor, slipping his arm around her as he did. Louise just looked at it for a moment, before smiling and taking his hand, positioning it around her and pulling in a little closer.


	11. Jesse's Show

Jordan landed on the ground, but this time the memory seemed to be far more broken up than before. The entire world was flickering and glowing, only brief glimpses of walls, streets and windows forming. People were walking around, but blinking in and out of focus. This memory wasn't just broken, it was shattered beyond recognition, and it seemed that the Library was struggling to form the memory.

Jordan didn't have time to worry about that though, all he was concerned with was the fact that he knew the Robo Knight, confused and on a rampage, was still coming after him. He snapped to his feet and broke into a run. It was a difficult task, because with the world still struggling to form around him; occasionally he bumped into people or obstacles he couldn't actually see properly. He saw an area that appeared to be more focused, and made a run for it.

He burst through a door, finding himself in a long, sterile corridor. He recognised it as a hospital, a human hospital. The corridor seemed to have a low, rolling mist along the floor. Jordan made his way through the corridor, wondering why exactly a human hospital was in one of the Robo Knight's memories. He made his way through, eventually reaching a sign, which gestured two directions. One was to the exit; the other was to the wards. Looking around for signs of the Robo Knight, he found there was none. He found himself drawn towards the maternity ward for some reason he couldn't explain.

Heading down the corridor towards the wards he found himself coming to a doctor's office. Inside, he found a doctor, sitting opposite a couple. One of them was wearing a military uniform...on closer inspection, Jordan recognised him as being his father...only he was just a lieutenant at this time, and he looked much younger. The woman sitting next to him, he recognised from pictures as his mother. They just looked to the doctor in surprise.

"Are...Are you sure?" Lieutenant Edwards asked.

"There's no mistaking the signs, I've run every test I can think of twice." The doctor told them. "Congratulations Mrs Edwards..."

"But, we were told...everyone always said it was..." Mrs Edwards started to stammer out, before pulling in closer. "My husband...every doctor we went to...we've tried everything, they all said the same thing. They said it would never happen. You should know, you told us yourself."

"Well...I don't know what to say Mrs Edwards, it really is unprecedented, but there's no denying it. You are pregnant."

She just settled back into the seat and looked to her husband. The doctor picked up some notes, before heading out the room, mumbling something about letting them have some privacy. As he closed the door behind him, Lieutenant Edwards got up and started to pace.

"Richard..."

"I know it was my fault. I know it hurt that the one thing you wanted is the only thing I couldn't give you." He started to say. "Please, just tell me..."

"You're not serious surely?" She asked him, looking deeply hurt. Richard just looked to her.

"Whatever you tell me, I'll believe it. I've always trusted you to be honest with me." He continued, fidgeting as he tried to bring himself to ask the question. "I always promised that we would try anything...I'd understand, I don't blame you, just...let me know..."

"It's yours Richard; it could only possibly be yours." She insisted. "I know I was upset when...when they said this would never happen, I was devastated, but I swear to you on my life, it's only ever been you."

"I just don't understand how this could have happened." He said truthfully.

"Richard, you hear about things like this on the news all the time." She told him. "People defying the odds, kids they said would never walk again becoming gymnasts, patients they were certain wouldn't survive living into their nineties...miracles happen all the time in medicine."

She took his hand softly as tears started to run down her face.

"This is all we've ever wished for, all we prayed for." She told him. "We're having a baby."

Jordan just looked on as his father and mother embraced. His dad didn't talk about his mom much; he barely knew anything about her. He knew that she died shortly after he was born, but his father had never told him anything about this. He had never told him about the fact they struggled to have a child. From the sounds of things, it had been his father that had difficulty, which he guessed explained a lot of the reason his father was always so distant. Despite his mom's assurances...he had to have his doubts about where Jordan came from.

He heard a loud noise, and looked around, seeing a flash outside the room, taking a look to where it came from, he saw that the Robo Knight was still after him. He ran for the exit, coming through it, but was shocked to find himself at the grounds of the Old Chemical Plant. He just looked around, finding that the door he'd come through was nowhere to be found.

"Wait...this doesn't make sense." He stated as he saw the school bus a little way off. Mr Burley was by the bus, waiting for the students to return with their samples. The landscape was still fractured, breaking up and blinking in and out of view. Some of the characters within seemed to move in skips and jumps, like pieces of their actions were missing from the memory. The one thing he did see that was steady, that didn't flicker, was the Robo Knight. Remembering that he wasn't there in his armoured form, he surmised that he had to be the one pursuing him.

Jordan thought about it for a moment, and sprinted off for a plot, near a drainage system. There, sure enough, he found himself all those months ago, searching through some soil. He arrived just in time to see the Robo Knight unit latching onto him. Unfortunately, he looked up, finding that the real Robo Knight had also been drawn to his location within the memory.

"Oh shit." Jordan uttered as he ducked back out of sight. "What's going on here? Why is a memory of my parents in the same memory as the Robo Knight bonding with me?"

He made his way from the scene, leaving the Robo Knight looking for him, still distracted by seeing the memory Jordan. He thought about what was happening.

"OK, so what does any of this have in common?" He asked. "Pythia said some of the memories...were smashing into each other...that's why this one's so messed up! This...this is more than one memory! And the only thing in common is...me!"

He saw some of the memory starting to come into more focus, and solidifying. He also saw a blazing white barrier forming, beyond which, he could barely make out the hospital...and beyond that...

"Three memories?" He asked. "No wonder things are mixed up here."

As the Robo Knight started to come towards him, he rushed for the white zone between the memories...only to find himself bursting back out in the library. Three spheres low lay before him, two of completed memories, and one more that was empty, completely transparent, like a glass orb. The completed memories zoomed back into the Library, taking their places on the shelves. Jordan grabbed the remaining orb, but found that nothing happened. He looked around as Robo Knight burst back into the room from one of the memories. He sprinted away, avoiding his attacks, before hiding behind some shelves.

"Pythia!" He called out, inspecting the glass orb in his hands. "Gods' sake, where the hell are you?"

He sprinted down the corridor, trying desperately to keep one step ahead of the Robo Knight. He continued to ponder the new memory.

"Damn it all, what is the deal here? Why isn't this working?" He demanded. He tried to remember what Pythia had told him, cursing the fact that at a time he could really use her help, she wasn't there. "Wait...she said that the next memory was the last...this memory...it's empty because...it hasn't been created yet!"

"So, it takes being chased by your psychotic alter ego to get you to figure things out." Pythia commented, standing in the middle of the corridor. Jordan just gestured to her wildly.

"Will you hide?" He asked her.

"Why? I'm dead; I don't have anything to worry about." She said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well I'm not!" Jordan reminded her. "And I'd very much like to keep it that way, now you might not be able to die again, but do you need to draw attention to me like that? Hide!"

"This is all pointless you know." Pythia sighed, sitting down next to him. He looked to her.

"What?" He demanded.

"Have you learned anything?" She said in an impatient tone. "You have everything you need, just...put it together."

"I don't have everything I need; I have the Robo Knight after me, an empty memory, and a guide that never gives me a straight answer!" He stated.

"Well, if you think that's all you have, maybe it is best you just give up." She suggested. "I suppose you're not the most enlightened company, but I should be able to get used to you after a century or two."

Jordan just inspected the empty memory, before looking to Pythia once more. He recalled another thing she had said...or more importantly, something she had done. Jordan just snatched the glass orb tightly, before standing up.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"This memory doesn't need to be repaired, it needs to be filled." Jordan stated. "This is the memory of how I reclaim the Robo Knight."

"Or he reclaims you." Pythia suggested. Jordan just glared at her, but she held her hands up. "Well, it could happen, that memory hasn't been created yet."

Jordan took a deep breath before stepping out of cover. Pythia just smiled.

"Now, this, I just have to see." She stated as she disappeared.

Back at the television studio, the Rangers had finished watching the lead-in video package, when Jesse got the signal that the broadcast was back on them. He smiled as he faced the audience, who were reacting in a divided manner to what they had seen.

"Well, I think that footage speaks for itself." Jesse stated.

"Well, sure you only showed the bad stuff!" Jake protested. "Where did you get that footage of me pinning Blue's foot to the ground with my Snake Axe? Even we haven't seen that film!"

"Not to mention you showed almost NO footage of the damage the monsters were doing before we showed up!" Gia added. "That was the most..."

"OK, this is a panel show, why don't we open up the discussion to the floor?" He asked, cutting her off. "Let's take some questions...yes, girl on the fourth row in the black jacket."

"Yes, I have a question; we all know that your battles cause a lot of damage." She began. "Even though not all of it is caused by you, I just wanted to ask, what do you do to try and limit the harm you cause in the cross fire?"

"That is an excellent question." Jesse stated. "It does indeed bring up another interesting point though. We all know that no conflict can take place with no fallout; however the military and the police train extensively in order to limit such casualties. However it occurs to me that we don't actually know anything about any of you."

"Um...yeah, that's kind of the point of a secret identity." Noah said sarcastically.

"Well, the thing is that leads to the question, what makes you qualified to undertake such missions?" He asked. "Do you have military training?"

"Um...no." Troy admitted, raising a few jeers from the audience.

"Well, how about police? Emergency services?" He asked. "Any appropriate training at all?"

"Not exactly." Troy said uncomfortably. "We train extensively..."

"But you don't have any form of qualifications that are applicable to the situation." He interrupted Troy. "So you regularly take high powered weapons onto public streets with no training, experience or qualifications of any kind. Don't you think that's more than a little irresponsible?"

Some whooping went up from a section of the audience, while others were scrambling to get called on for a question.

"Yes, the man in the very sharp suit in the front row." Jesse stated.

"Um...shouldn't we get a chance to answer that question?" Jake whispered to the others. Troy just covered his visor with his hand.

"Yes, I have a question for the whole team." He stated. "Given how much harm is caused in your battles, insurance premiums in the city have skyrocketed for many people. The number of claims being made has pushed prices up considerably, at least in part because any claim made for a Ranger battle is technically a claim against an uninsured party because no one knows who you are..."

"Wait, are you serious?" Jake asked, looking to the others. "Is he serious?"

"So my question is, do you really think it's fair that you don't accept any legal obligation for damage caused by your weapons or actions?"

"That is another excellent question!" Jesse declared proudly. "So, how do you answer that then? Keeping your identities secret, you deny people the opportunity to hold you to account for your actions."

"Hold us to..." Gia started to say in disbelief. "WE SAVE LIVES!"

"Really? I do believe there were casualties in the Edward Teach incident." Jesse stated.

"A freaking oil tanker crashed into the harbour!" Jake reminded him. "If it hadn't been for us, things would have been far worse!"

"So you believe you are above the law?" Jesse asked. "You think because you have these powers you have the right to act as you please?"

"I think what my team mate is trying to say is that we regularly save dozens of lives." Noah chipped in. "I think those that are alive because of us would agree that on the grand scheme of things, if lives are saved, no one's going to mind a few broken windows or a damaged car once in a while."

The audience was again divided. Cat was waving wildly for attention, and although Jesse had chosen someone else to ask a question, she grabbed the mike.

"Well...OK, the eager young lady with the red hair." He stated.

"Um...yeah, Hi Rangers!" She began. "Um...just to follow on from the last question, obviously a lot of people, and especially the monsters you fight obviously have reasons to hate you, but it occurs to me...do you all have loved ones in the city? People you're trying to protect by keeping your identity hidden?"

"I'll field that one." Gia rushed out before any of them could answer. "The short answer, without putting anyone in danger is yes. We all live in the city, and we have friends, and family in the city, people that might be targeted by people trying to get to us. So...yes, the secret identity thing is for other peoples' sakes."

"For anyone that wants to know, that doesn't necessarily mean all of us have found that special someone." Jake said as he tried to sit casually, looking to Allison on the front row through his visor with a smile. "So...you know...if anyone..."

"Secret identity remember?" Emma whispered to him. "Flirting really is pointless if she can't see who you are."

"Ah...right." Jake whispered in response.

"That's a nice story, a very convenient excuse." Jesse said in an off-hand way. "Now, before we go any further..."

Just then, the doors flew open and loogies burst into the room, sending the audience into a panic. Some of the audience got up and started to run around, trying to get out, shoving and trampling each other in a panic. The Rangers got up and rushed straight for them.

Seeing Allison had been bowled over, and left lying on the ground, Jake ran over to a loogie who was approaching her, and punched him hard, sending him to the ground, before standing over her. Another approached, only for Jake to kick him in the gut, but to his surprise, the loogie just fell to his knees and started coughing.

"Dude, seriously, you're working too stiff!" He spluttered.

"Wait what?" Jake asked. It was only then he noticed a zipper running up the back of the creature. He rolled his eyes and grabbed the head, pulling it off, revealing a man with a shaven head underneath.

"Guys!" Jake called out to the others, showing them his 'monster'.

Gia grabbed the head of another loogie, pulling off the mask, finding a man underneath. Troy and Noah did the same, before they all looked at Jesse in disgust.

"Alright, what gives?" Troy demanded angrily.

"Um...I don't know...I..."

"You said this was a basic job!" One of the 'loogies' protested. "You said the Rangers were trained, not amateurs that would really beat the shit out of us!"

"You show up dressed as loogies, and you don't expect us to hurt you?" Jake asked.

"It's only an act!" One of the fake loogies continued. "You know, stage fight?"

"We're not actors genius, we really are the Rangers!" Gia stated, shoving one of them away. "So, what's this about Jesse?"

"I don't know what..."

Just then, the screen behind him flickered. On it, a message appeared, saying simply "Jesse's been lying to you".

"What's going on?" Jesse asked, before the screen flicked to a view of the security tapes of the back room, where several costumes were stored...including Ranger costumes.

"Wait...this..."

Then another image came up, showing Jesse arguing with the man the Rangers had seen earlier.

"You can't just cancel a job at the last second without contacting me! My agent has a contract!" The actor demanded. "I was scheduled to play the Red Ranger on your show! Now you're telling me you re-cast me without even telling me? I'm missing an audition for CSI for this!"

The audience started to boo loudly. Jesse started backing up towards the screen as it started to show some of his e-mails to talent companies. One of them for a stunt team, presumably the ones that had shown up as loogies were a stunt team hired to put on a show and get the audience worked up.

"Wait, I can explain..."

"Well, we'll leave you to that." Troy stated, a wry grin on his face as the others assembled by him. "Come on guys; let's focus on our real work."

With that, they teleported out of the studio. Seeing the irate audience before him, Jesse gulped as he looked out on his audience.

Back at the Command Centre, the Rangers arrived back, finding Tensou by a console. Noah looked to him and smiled.

"Nice work Tensou." He complimented the little robot.

"What can I say? Jesse's not the only one who can manipulate footage." Tensou replied. "Nobody messes with my Rangers."


	12. The End of the Journey

Inside the Library, Jordan clutched the empty memory tightly as he made his way back towards the centre of the Library, to the huge plinth that towered over the shelving units. He took a deep breath as he prepared for what was to come. This was where everything began, and this was where everything had to end. He started to ascend the steps, taking them all the way to the top.

As he arrived there, he found his body, still being held in the containment field. He was still locked in the armour, unable to be released until Pythia allowed it to be so. Jordan approached the tube, where the body was rotating slowly, looking to it with a sigh.

"All I ever wanted was to be a hero, to be a Ranger." He stated. "I thought...I thought that if I was, if I fought for the world, and protected people, that things would be different, would be better. I never wanted to hurt anyone, I never wanted any of...this."

He let out a small laugh as he thought about it.

"I spent my whole life reading Spiderman comics. Some of the first words I ever read were 'with great power comes great responsibility.' It was kind of a buzzkill when all I wanted was to see the guy in the spider suit kick butt." He mused as he looked to the containment field. "But reading about Gwen Stacey, Betty Brant's brother, Uncle Ben...for a long time I found it cool, found it interesting that unlike a lot of heroes, his decisions, his battles actually affected his life outside of Spiderman, but I never really thought I would face that myself. All the people I've hurt hate me, and they have every right to."

He turned around as he heard footsteps coming up the stairway. The Robo Knight started to come into view.

"I can't erase what I've already done, but I can make sure I use my power, our power for the good of the world from now on." He stated. "I asked Troy to finish me off, but that would have been wrong, it would have been too easy, just like it would have been too easy to just accept my fate and stay here, to just hide and stop you from ever hurting anyone else by never going back, but that would be taking the easy way out. I can't make people like me, I can't stop them if they want to resent me, but that doesn't mean I can just ignore them. I want my body back!"

"As do I." The Robo Knight declared.

"So, are we going to play nicely now?" Jordan asked. Robo Knight levelled his blaster at Jordan. "I guess that was a little much to hope for."

Robo Knight pulled the trigger, firing at Jordan. He saw the beam coming towards him, but just as it was about to hit home, he pulled his hand in front of his face. It deflected the blast upward into the ceiling, slamming into it and shaking the room. Jordan just looked to his hand.

"The power of the mind rules here." Jordan said, a smile coming to his face as he realised that his suspicion about Pythia's words, about the intent of her message, was true. In here, in the Library, the Robo Knight had no more power than he did.

Robo Knight converted his weapon into blade mode, rushing towards Jordan. He parried every one of Robo Knight's attacks with his bare hands, before finally grabbing the sword and pulling it from his grip, throwing it aside, where it stuck into the ground point first. He drew into a guard.

"We can't fight each other anymore, we need to unify, to act as one." Jordan told the Robo Knight.

"You stand in defence of those who poison the Earth; you have impeded me for the last time." Robo Knight declared. "I will continue my mission, I will regain my body!"

"Then this is the way it ends!" Jordan responded as the Robo Knight fell upon him. They fought furiously, punches and kicks slamming home as they struggled for control of their shared mind.

Jordan kicked the Robo Knight down the stairs, where he tumbled all the way down to the bottom. Jordan saw the forty foot gap between them, and steeled himself. He knew that there was no way he would make the jump physically, but then he also knew he shouldn't be a physical match for the Robo Knight anyway. Here, such things had no meaning. He leapt into the air, aiming a flying kick at Robo Knight, slamming into him, carrying both of them into a shelf, where they inadvertently fell into another memory.

Back in the real world, Noah had arrived back at his place. He saw his parents watching the television, catching up on the events of the day.

"See, I always knew it!" Mr Carver declared loudly. "I told you that Jesse Miles' stories were all made up!"

"Oh, you don't need to keep crowing about it." Mrs Carver grumbled, handing him ten dollars, presumably paying a bet. The Carvers' idea of a fun pastime was to watch all the reality TV shows, regardless of how silly, degrading, or contrived they were, and betting on the results. He remembered seeing them watch one show where the objective was for a contestant who had been adopted to pick their real father out of a line-up to win ten thousand dollars!* It was a TV show that premiered in Europe, and mercifully didn't make it past the third episode. Noah still couldn't believe the depths some shows would sink to, and was glad to see good taste take precedence. He also didn't really see the point in the betting. After all, his parents had a joint bank account, so it wasn't like either of them ACTUALLY profited from these wagers. They just passed their own money back and forth between them like it mattered.

"Oh, Noah, you're home." Mrs Carver declared. "Some girl called for you, she said she wanted you to pick her up at her place before going to that dinosaur exhibit."

"Really? I thought I was meeting her there." Noah replied with a shrug. "OK, thanks for the message."

"Noah going somewhere with a girl?" His dad asked his wife as Noah went to get ready. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Oh, leave him alone." His wife replied, smacking him in the chest. "He hangs out with those two...um...you know who I'm talking about...all the time."

"I guess so." He answered with a shrug. "Still, I kept telling you, that show had to be fake. No one could find THAT many freaks and idiots to put on television."

"Says the man that once thought KITT really was a talking car." She sighed as they went back to watching the television.

Noah got out of the shower, and started to pace his room, looking out some underwear. He then started to look for something to wear. He knew that the event at the museum was something of a big deal. He doubted his regular clothes were going to be appropriate. He started to check through his drawers for something that was a little smarter than he normally wore.

As he looked into his drawers though, he saw that they were in disarray. It wasn't unusual, unlike his lab in the garage, or his study space in his bedroom, his wardrobe and his drawers were always a shambles. Between the fact he usually didn't care much what he dressed like, and the fact that if he ran out of room elsewhere to put his books, comics, science journals, computer magazines etc, he often just bundled everything in his drawers.

"Aw man, you've got to be kidding." He grumbled as he pulled a ton of clothes out of his drawers, tossing them lazily onto the floor. All of them were rumpled beyond the point even he considered acceptable, and since the exhibit opened in only half an hour, he doubted he'd have time to iron anything. He tossed drawers out of the unit onto the floor with a clatter, rummaging through them, but still found nothing.

Trying his last hope, he opened his wardrobe. This was where he kept all the smart stuff his mom insisted he just NEEDED for special occasions, like when he visited relatives in other towns whose names he could never remember. He found a blue satin shirt, and a pair of pressed black trousers hanging up. There was a neat, black jacket hanging up near them, and a pair of black shoes polished to a mirror shine on the floor. He hadn't worn this stuff since...well, he couldn't exactly remember, but he was out of options. He quickly got dressed, and sorted out his hair, before heading for the door. Checking his wallet, he dialled his cell phone for a cab.

Out the back of the house, Gia was waiting. Emma climbed out of the back window, lowering herself as far as she could, before dropping to the ground.

"OK, did it work?" Gia asked. "When I saw him coming before you got out..."

"Yeah, it worked." Emma replied, rubbing her forehead. Gia noticed a lump forming, which was looked decidedly sore. "I hid under his bed when I heard him coming."

"Emma, what happened?" Gia asked.

"He really needs to learn how to do a search without throwing his furniture around." Emma grumbled. "I really hope this works...I saw WAY more of Noah than a friend should."

"Well, we did our part, now we just have to leave it to our partners in crime to handle phase two." Gia told her, taking out her communicator. "Alright Snake Boy, he's heading your way."

"I'm on it." Jake replied, before cutting off his communicator.

Back in the Library, Jordan and the Robo Knight tumbled into an unknown jungle. Before Jordan could appreciate what was happening though, Robo Knight was back on the attack. It grabbed him, picking him up and slamming him into a tree.

Jordan struggled as it slammed punches into his ribs, before grabbing him around the throat, starting to squeeze.

"I will control my form again!" Robo Knight declared. "There will only be one Robo Knight!"

"I didn't want it to end this way." Jordan told him as he looked up, seeing an energy wave coming. "But you gave me no choice!"

He braced a foot against the Robo Knight's chest, shoving him backwards into it, before covering his eyes from the bright flash. The wave passed through him, the light passing through his visor. Robo Knight clutched at its visor, and Jordan realised his plan had worked. The sudden burst of light had put a strain on its optics, but he knew it would recover. He didn't have long to act.

As Robo Knight tried to get up, he slammed a stomp into its chest plate, forcing it back down. He saw the chest plate cracking up. He stared down at it.

"I never wanted it to end this way." Jordan told it. "You did your job while you were essential, but now...now you're just dangerous. I'm sorry."

With that, he brought his leg up, bringing his foot over his head, before driving his heel down in a destructive axe kick, slamming it into the Robo Knight's face plate, shattering his helmet. The body jerked once, and then went limp. It turned into pure light, before vanishing into him.

"I really wish we could have worked together, but if you can't tell friend from foe, I guess we're going to have to trust my judgement from now on." Jordan stated, looking around. "Now, I guess I just have to find a way out of here."

As he said this, he heard an anguished scream from a little way off. He ran in the direction of the scream. There, he found a warrior he recognised from the figurines lining the wall of the Command Centre. It was the Gold Zeo Ranger. Both of them were surrounded by piles of sand. He was comforting someone that Jordan couldn't quite make out from this angle.

"It's done, the war is over." The Gold Ranger told him.

"But...that energy...there is only one source of energy that could have done this." The other figure stated. The Gold Ranger just nodded.

"I know." He answered. "His sacrifice will never be forgotten."

"It will also never be in vain." The other figure replied.

The image shifted, back to the Command Centre. He saw Tensou at a console, preparing something. The other figure was in the shadows, working on something else.

"Are you sure about this?" Tensou asked.

"My father's sacrifice will never be in vain." He replied. Jordan realised it was Gosei in the shadows. "The Morphing Grid he created...it is tied to the Eltarian legacy. So long as one son of Eltar remains, willing to shed blood, and spill his own in defence of the universe, it can never die. My father made his sacrifice, now I must make mine."

"But Gosei..."

"Our allies will ensure our powers go to those the world needs, and I will be prepared to call on a team myself." Gosei told him. "But for the Morphing Grid to remain, so must I...which means that I cannot place my desires above the safety of Earth. My father made his sacrifice, and this is mine."

With that, he stepped into a darkened chamber, at which the all-too familiar face that they had been speaking with swung closed slowly, ominously, sealing him inside. Tensou rolled over into the corner, and shut himself down.

Jordan saw a portal open, and stepped through it, finding himself in the Library once more. As he got there, he found himself blinded by light. It was only as the light faded, he realised he was on the plinth. Looking down, his hands were covered by armour...the Robo Knight Armour...HIS armour. He looked to Pythia as she appeared.

"So? Which one are you?" She asked. Jordan recalled his armour.

"Who do you think?" He asked her. She just smiled.

"So, you finally learned something." She stated. "So, what about Robo Knight?"

"Well, the power still exists; it was his base program that was the problem." Jordan told her. "So, I destroyed it."

"You...you WHAT?" She shrieked, looking to him in horror. "But...what about...?"

"Robo Knight could only ever exist within the rules it was programmed with, that's what governed everything about how it acted, everything it did. With those limitations, it was inevitable it could never see extenuating circumstances, only allies or enemies. So, I destroyed that program. Now, it can't control me, and I no longer have those prime directives."

"But...but the directives, they were all..."

"You misunderstand, now I'M the one making the calls." Jordan interrupted her. "I will use the power, not because I have to, but because I choose to. I will defend people because I decide its right. I no longer have rules to govern what I do, so it'll be MY decisions behind my actions."

"So, we are to trust you?" She asked.

"Wasn't that always the intention?" He asked. She just sighed.

"Just tell me one thing." She pressed on. "Where did you come up with that idea?"

"Robocop II." Jordan replied honestly.

"Humans." She muttered dismissively in a little laugh. "I doubt I'm ever going to understand you."

"This library, it doesn't just hold Eltarian memories does it?" Jordan asked her.

"Why do you ask?" She asked him.

"It's just...there was one memory from my life...the day my parents found out they were having me." Jordan explained.

"Are you not intertwined with Eltarian history?" She asked him. "Everyone is involved in history, whether they know it or not. Every person's actions impact the world around them."

"And I'm the Robo Knight, so...I'm intertwined with his history." Jordan stated. "Which means I'm in here."

"Everyone who has been involved is in here." Pythia told him. "Somewhere over there...we have the moment Emma fell in love with nature, which is one of the main reasons Gosei chose her. Over there somewhere...when Troy stood up to the children who were bullying him for the first time, forming the man he is today. Somewhere over there..."

"OK, OK I get it." Jordan snapped as he looked to the newly completed memory in his hand. "If our lives are in here...there are so many answers, so many questions...there's so much I want to see, to know..."

"Be careful what you wish for." Pythia told him, taking the memory from him and throwing it over her shoulder. It seemed to veer off in a different direction after a couple of feet, heading off to file itself away in the appropriate place. "Answers do not always turn out to be the ones we want."

"Just...answer me one thing." He said as she started to turn away from him. "The memory of my mom..."

"The world is waiting for you." She replied, gesturing to a doorway that opened up, before disappearing. Jordan realised he wasn't going to get an answer from her; he just made his way to the doorway. He found himself appearing back in the Command Centre, where Tensou just turned towards him.

"Jordan!" Tensou piped up. "You...you got out!"

"Yeah, I made it." Jordan stated. "Now, all I can do is work on..."

Just then, the alarm went off.

He ran to the console and saw the location of the threat appear on the map.

"I guess I get an early start on that whole mission of redemption thing." Jordan sighed. "OK Gosei, send me out there."

As he vanished, Tensou went towards one of the consoles.

"No." Gosei declared. Tensou just turned towards him.

"But I need to summon the other Rangers!" Tensou protested.

"We will contact them if they are needed." Gosei assured him. "For now, leave this to Jordan."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Tensou replied.

In another part of Harwood, Noah approached the door to Quinn's apartment. He found a flower sitting on the doorstep, and picked it up, looking at it curiously. At that moment, Quinn opened the door, seeing him outside.

"Noah!" She greeted him, looking a little shaken. In truth, she had no idea he was coming, she expected to meet him at the museum. The phone call his parents received was actually from Gia, but they had never met Quinn, and didn't care enough to check when a girl called for Noah who it was. She was dressed in a long, blue dress, and her hair was in a far more elaborate style than she normally bothered with working at the Wildlife Park.

"Wow, you look...wow." He responded clumsily, unable to really take in just how different she looked when she was making an effort. She just smiled. "I came to pick you up."

"That's...that's sweet." She replied, taking the flower from him. "You look great too."

"It's just something I found in my wardrobe." He replied. "So, let's go and do this."

With that, they both headed out. From his hiding spot a little way off, Jake dialled his cell phone.

"Phase 2 complete." He told Gia. "It's up to him now."

"Thanks Jake." Gia replied as they got to the door of their house. "We'll see you tomorrow alright?"

As they got in, they saw that the lights were down low. Emma turned up the lights, before looking over to the couch. Eric and Louise were there, and jumped away from each other, looking somewhat startled. Emma and Gia just stared.

"Emma, Gia...you're back!" Louise greeted them nervously. "Um...how was...that thing you were...?"

"We had an interesting night." Gia replied. "Uh...it's been kind of a big night..."

"Yeah...we should get some rest...big day...and um...night." Emma added. As they left, Eric and Louise just looked at each other.

"So, what do you think are the odds they didn't just see that?" Louise asked him. Eric just gave her a disbelieving look. "Yeah, that's about what I thought."

As they were heading up to their room, Gia tapped Emma on the shoulder.

"So...we just saw that right?" Gia asked. "My mom and your dad..."

"Making out." Emma confirmed. "Yeah...I really think maybe that's something we should put off till tomorrow. Today's just giving me a headache."

As she watched Emma go, Gia just sighed and followed her.

"You know, I think this is the first time I'm actually glad you're straight." Gia responded. "That would just be too weird even for me."

A/N: Just a little trivia, the reality show I described, and marked with the *, that actually DID happen! It was broadcast for about three episodes before the network opted NOT to pick it up for obvious reasons! Reality TV really can plumb the depths of good taste at times.


	13. The New and Improved Robo Knight

Jordan appeared in a flash of bright light, finding some loogies in the street. Some of them were chasing and attacking citizens, seemingly at random. Jordan saw a man in coveralls leapt out of the cab of a truck in the street. In his panic and desperation to run, however, he had missed some debris on the road and tripped up, landing on the ground painfully. He watched as the loogie following him raised its weapon to attack. Breaking into a sprint, he got there just in time to block the downward swing of its blade, and disarming it with a flick of his Robo Blade, before cutting it down.

"Thank you." The man said, still cowering on the ground.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I don't know, they just appeared and attacked..." The man recoiled in horror, seeing Jordan standing beside him. "No...n-n-n-not you...I didn't mean..."

Jordan realised that in his armour, he was probably the last thing most people wanted to see when they were already in danger.

"It's alright, I got a personality upgrade." Jordan assured him. "It's them I'm here for."

As Jordan extended his hand, and helped the man up. When he still refused it, terrified that the Robo Knight was going to destroy him, Jordan grabbed his coveralls and yanked him to his feet, putting him down and straightening out his clothes.

"Wait, Queen Power and Energy?" Jordan asked, noting a logo on the man's coveralls. He looked to him, remembering where he had heard the name before. Queen had owned the old chemical plant that had spilled and caused the birth of the Toxic Mutants. Their reputation since then was little better to most environmental groups. They now had a new plant, but rumours still persisted that they were illegally dumping waste. The truck he...the Robo Knight...had attacked, had been dumping in a quarry just outside of town, and Spider's attack had been directed at the new plant. He had a feeling that whatever was in the truck this guy was driving couldn't be good. "The truck, what's in it?"

"It's some waste I was asked to run out to the disposal site." He answered, still looking terrified. Jordan and the man turned to see that some of the loogies were standing, firing blasts into the side of the truck. "I don't know what's in there, I recycle, please don't..."

"I don't care about you; I just want to stop whatever these guys are planning!" Jordan reiterated, pulling him in close. "OK, no political bullshit! I don't care if you're just a truck driver, or one of the guys that tells people to transport the shit, whatever's in that truck, they want to spill it. What is in that truck?"

"Put it this way, you don't want to be within five blocks of here if they punch a hole in that thing." The man replied honestly. Jordan just nodded in understanding, before shoving him away a little.

"Go, get everyone out of here." Jordan replied, switching his weapon to Robo Blade mode.

"Wait, what are you doing?" He asked. Jordan didn't answer though, he just ran at the loogies, opening fire with the blaster. "You can't...that truck; if it goes up...you can't let them destroy it!"

Jordan was thankful for everything he had learned in the military cadets as he ran through the street. He concentrated his fire, taking down those loogies that were about to strike out at citizens, giving them a chance to run. Grabbing one, he slammed the blade into it, pulling it out, before turning and firing a shot at another. By now, all of them had their attention focused entirely on Jordan, just as he had intended.

As he got closer to the truck, he saw Vrak in his Earth armour by the truck, directing the loogies.

"No, not there, where you've already blasted!" He instructed them. "Concentrate your fire! Keep..."

He was cut off as a blast rebounded off the back, sending him to his knees. He turned around, seeing Jordan standing behind him. Jordan could see the burns from the explosion at the docks across his face and body, even with the armour.

"You're looking a little well fired there Vrak." He taunted him. "A little extra crispy."

"Robo Knight?" He asked. Jordan just smiled. "Perfect. Even if the Rangers do come in time, with you here..."

"Sorry Vrak, you've got the wrong Robo Knight." He interrupted him. "I guess you could call me version 3.0"

"Well, whatever version you are, it was foolish to turn up without backup." He responded as he gestured forward a mutant. It was taller than him, and considerably heavier, and covered in brown fur. It had long, sharp claws on its hands, and small, black, beady eyes, which gazed straight at Jordan. "Meet Molestar! Molestar, once you deal with him, turn this street into a toxic swamp."

As he teleported out, Jordan looked at the army arrayed against him.

"OK, let's take stock; we have a gas station, a truck full of toxic waste, a couple of dozen loogies intent on flooding the street with that waste, and a giant mole monster." He stated, taking in the situation. "And to cap it all off, I appear to be on my own...yeah, this is going to be easy...but I guess no one ever said it would."

With that, he rushed towards the army before him, smashing the first of them down on his way.

Over at the museum, Noah and Quinn were enjoying the reception. It was a party quite unlike anything Noah had ever attended. Most of the city's movers and shakers were there, everyone in black tie for the evening. There were waiters milling around the room, providing drinks. Noah and Quinn both settled for lemonade, but there was plenty of champagne and cocktails being consumed, and trays of finger foods were being carried around constantly. It was after hours, strictly a private viewing, and so no one Noah really knew appeared to be there. Quinn was on his arm, taking him around some of the fossils as she sipped her lemonade.

"These are amazing." She whispered as she looked at some of the fossils that formed the secondary exhibits. The main attraction was in the centre of the room, still covered up before the grand unveiling. "I've never seen so many flawless, undamaged samples."

"It's still amazing to me that this stuff existed." Noah told her with a smile. "It was dinosaurs that really got me into science."

"It was?" She asked, looking to him. His face lit up as he thought about it.

"My dad used to tell me stories about dragons and wyverns and giant serpents...adventure stories, you know the kind of thing." Noah began to tell her. "Of course, I didn't believe in any of it, it all sounded too farfetched. Nothing I'd ever seen looked anything like what he was talking about. Then one day, he took me to the museum, and I got my first glimpse of this guy."

He pointed to the skeleton of an Iguanodon.

"Then, all of dad's stories didn't seem so silly anymore." Noah continued. "They might not have been the dragons everyone described in books, but these things did exist. These mighty creatures once walked the same lands we now do...and then they disappeared."

He shook his head and let out a small laugh thinking about it.

"It was then that I realised that a lot more exists in the world than what we see and understand if we're willing to look for it." He told her. "That's when I really became interested in science, to find the answers to those questions, because...if dragons exist, then what other magic in the world do we just not understand yet?"

He looked at Quinn, who was just staring at him.

"I'm sorry; I know I'm going on about this." He stated. "It must sound really..."

"No, I really...I understand." She told him. "I totally understand. I think it's really sweet."

"I don't think my mom and dad get it though." Noah sighed. "My dad wanted me to have magic and fairy tales in my life. I think at times he hates the fact that I spend all my time looking for reasons, that he thinks it takes some of the magic away if we know the real reason things happened."

"I know what you're saying. My mom gets really frustrated by me too." Quinn confessed. "I kind of got into science because all the boys said girls were no good at it. By the time I showed them that I was just as good, if not better than them...I was pretty much hooked."

"Well, you did beat me at the science fair last year." He reminded her.

"Yeah, I did." She said with a smile.

Just then, they heard a ringing as a man tapped a glass with a spoon to attract their attention to the middle of the room. They turned towards the middle of the room, where the museum director was attracting their attention.

"Thank you for attending this evening." He began, speaking into a microphone so they would hear him. Noah and Quinn moved as close as they could through the crowd. "As you all know, sadly our benefactor, Dr Andrew Hartford cannot be with us this evening, but he is, as we all know, if nothing else a slave to his work in archaeology. Of course if it wasn't for that, then we wouldn't have the privilege of being able to display possibly one of the finest prehistoric collections on the West Coast."

The audience applauded the announcement as he panned his hand around the room to indicate the fossils.

"Dr Hartford has kindly donated this entire collection to be enjoyed by the entire city! It was his sincerest hope that we would be able to inspire the next generation of archaeologists by showing the wonders of our world with them, to show that even in these dark times, there are still fantastic things to be discovered and preserved."

There was another applause. He then smiled.

"Now, it is my privilege to show you the crowning jewel of this collection, one of the only examples of its kind in existence...behold, the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered...the spinosaurus!"

He pulled a cord, at which the curtain fluttered to the ground, exposing the skeleton erected in the middle of the room. Noah and Quinn marvelled at it as they saw it. The skeleton was complete, something that was an oddity in itself. They both knew about Spinosaurus, but there were so few fully intact skeletons in the world, very few had ever seen it up close. This skeleton wasn't only complete, it was also remarkably undamaged, suggesting that its cause of death was likely natural, and not violent, something that was very unusual for such a vicious creature.

"Wow...I heard about this, but...I never would have believed it." Quinn stated. "A lot of people don't even know about this creature, now every kid in Harwood is going to get to see this."

"It's a shame more people don't know about it." Noah agreed.

"We almost never found out about it all the way out here." She told him. "Did you know that the first full skeleton was displayed in a museum in Munich in the 1940's?"

"Really?" Noah asked her.

"It was found in Egypt." She continued. "It was displayed in Munich, but it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the allies in 1944."

She moved a little closer, gripping his arm a little tighter.

"Just think, because the world was so consumed by their petty differences, knowledge of this creature was almost lost forever." She told him. "It's taken nearly seventy years for its existence to become common knowledge. It's kind of sad when you think about it."

She looked to Noah, who was just staring at her. She suddenly became a little self-conscious.

"Sorry, I sometimes babble on and..."

"No, it's just...it's amazing." Noah told her, marvelling at the fact there was someone out there who cared about the things he did as much as he did. He had dragged his parents around enough science exhibits and museums that he was used to just seeing vacant expressions and polite nods when he would talk about the things that he found amazing about the world. Quinn was just...he couldn't find the words to express his surprise, and his joy at finding someone that was just as passionate as he was. "Want to see if we can get a closer look?"

With that, they headed through the crowd as they went back to the party.

Back at the site of the battle, Jordan was using every single thing he had learned over the last few months, stretching all his senses to the maximum. Ever loogie he cut down brought him closer to being able to focus on Molestar. He wanted to focus on the creature, but every time he started to make some headway, he had to break off as more of the loogies concentrated on the truck.

Finally taking care of the last of them, he was tackled to the ground by the mutant. As Jordan started to get back to his feet, the creature leapt up into the air, before diving into the ground, burrowing underneath it.

"OK, that's new." He muttered. He started to look around, before the creature burst up from behind him, raking its claws upwards, and sending him spinning through the air. Jordan grabbed a parking metre to stop his momentum, and control his flight, taking him away from the truck.

"Got to keep the truck intact, got to keep the truck intact." He kept telling himself in a mantra as he saw Molestar heading towards it. He leapt onto its back, grabbing the Robo Blade around its throat, and dragging it backwards. Molestar started to run backwards, but hearing a scream, Jordan took a glance over his shoulder and saw there were still civilians, some of whom had stopped to film the battle on their phones. An annoying distraction was that sometimes people, thinking more about the money to be had in filming a Ranger battle than their safety, would try to film footage to sell to the press. In the day and age where every second person had a camera in their phone, that meant there were an irritating number of people with more interest in money than sense.

Jordan shifted his weight, digging his heel in behind Molestar's knee and causing both of them to tumble to the ground. He ran around just as Molestar fired a blast at the civilians, blocking the shot.

"What is wrong with you people?" He called out. "Do you want to get your heads blown off?"

"Did...did the Robo Knight just defend us?" One of them asked. They watched as Molestar burrowed into the ground again, and Jordan leapt into the tunnel after him.

"I thought he was more about destruction than helping anyone." One of the others commented. Just then, and area of the street was blasted out, and Molestar flew into the air, hitting the concrete. Jordan leapt out of the ground, his Robo Blade at the ready, and sliced Molestar's hands clean off. It screamed in agony.

"Sorry, I guess I suck at manicures." Jordan replied, before turning his weapon back into Blaster Mode. He attached the Vulcan Shot, but seeing the truck, he remembered the danger. He grabbed Molestar and threw him high into the air, taking aim.

"Just like a clay pigeon." He stated, taking his shot. Molestar was obliterated, leaving the street free. It was then that Jordan heard something he wasn't expecting...someone was clapping.

Turning to the citizens on the street, he saw one of them applauding. Another started to join in, then another, then another...pretty soon they all joined in. It was a good feeling.

"I knew something had to be wrong with him, it looks like he's fixed!" One of them called out. He pointed to a t-shirt showing that he was a Ranger fan. "Hey Robo, this is so going online!"

"Screw online, I'm sending this to every newspaper that'll take it!" Another stated. Jordan was glad to hear their praise, but it was short lived. He saw zombats flying down, and sighed.

"It's not over yet, get somewhere safe!" He called out. He pulled out his Robo Morpher. "Alright, you want another go, let's see how it ends!"

He used his morpher to summon up the Knight Brothers Zords, and turned into the Lion Zord himself, forming up his Megazord. By the time he was ready; Molestar had been revived and grown to massive size.

Seeing it going for the truck again, its foot coming down in a stomp, the Knight Brothers Megazord grabbed him, lifting him up off the ground. Jordan had to look for somewhere safe to put him down, seeing the nearby baseball stadium, and remembering that there wasn't a game on, he threw him into it.

"OK, now this is getting old." He stated, picking up the truck, trying to keep it safely from harm. As Molestar leapt into the air, he grabbed him, slamming him back down into the stadium.

"Victory Charge!" He called out, rushing the creature with his ultimate attack. Molestar was destroyed for the second and final time, just as the authorities arrived.

Looking to the truck, still in the Zord's hands, he smiled as he realised it still hadn't been ruptured. He had succeeded in taking care of Vrak's attack, and he had done so with minimal casualties. With the exception of the baseball stadium and some of the street, there was minimal damage too. He doubted the baseball team would love him, since their stadium would need extensive repairs, but other than that, his battle had gone well. He put down the truck, and released the Knight Brothers Zords, turning back into the Robo Knight. He walked up to some police officers, gesturing to the truck.

"I would suggest you check out the contents of that thing, the mutant seemed really interested in it." Jordan recommended.

"You rock Robo Knight!" Someone called out as the people in the street cheered. Jordan knew better than to hang around and outstay his welcome, but as he teleported home, he couldn't help smiling.

In another part of town, Noah and Quinn arrived outside her apartment building. The cab ride had been a long one, the driver had said something about a detour, but hadn't explained what it was about. As he took her to the door, Noah just looked to Quinn.

"I had a really great time tonight." He told her.

"I did too." Quinn told him. "Thanks for seeing me home."

"Well, it is the gentlemanly thing to do right?" He asked her with a little smile.

"Well, I should really be going inside..."

"Quinn, would you...?" Noah began, suddenly finding the words sticking in his throat. He hadn't ever met anyone like Quinn, someone that just got him, that understood all the things that he liked, and didn't seem to be turned away by it. He really enjoyed her company, and now having spent time away from work and school with her, he had seen something different in her. "Would you maybe like to do something like this again some time?"

"I'd really like that." She told him, coming back. She kissed him softly on the cheek, before heading inside. Noah was grinning brightly as he got back to the cab, getting inside.

"Good night?" The driver asked with a little knowing grin. Noah just nodded.

"The corner of Franklin and Baird." He told the driver, settling back into the seat, looking to the apartment as they pulled away. It was a good night, one of the best he'd had in a long time, and one he couldn't wait to repeat.


	14. Arise Sir Jordan

The following morning, Noah drifted into work at the Wildlife Centre, with a huge grin still on his face. Even although he had been unable to sleep all night, he was still flying pretty high on a combination of caffeine from his mom's cappuccino maker and thoughts of the night before.

The exhibit itself had been nothing short of amazing. To see a complete, undamaged example of Spinosaurus, together with one of the world's finest private collections of fossils, was an amazing thing in and of itself. He had dragged Jake to such things a few times, but he knew Jake only did it to humour him. He would usually just comment on the size of the dinosaurs and at some point, inevitably, make a joke about huge bones. Still, he always appreciated that just like when he would go to Jake's big matches he would at least act interested for Jake's sake, Jake did the same with him.

Going with Quinn though was entirely different. This time, he went with someone that actually appreciated what she was seeing. The ruling species on the planet, long before primates even existed, never mind humans. Although there was still spirited debate as to whether Dinosaurs were really reptiles, possibly an early version of birds, or perhaps even the first stage of mammal evolution, they were at one time in the position humans were now, ruling the entire planet. They had done for millions of years. By comparison, humans had only inhabited the earth for a few thousand years. If the entire history of the planet was expressed as a 24 hour day, humans had only even been on the planet somewhere in the region of a couple of minutes. It really put into perspective how insignificant in the grand scheme of things humans really were. Only Emma had really gotten the message like he had. The Earth had existed long before humans, and it would exist long after they were gone.

Quinn though had shown him a lot of the exhibits, sometimes telling him things he didn't know. He still couldn't believe that humans almost lost the knowledge of the existence of Spinosaurus almost seventy years previously because of war destroying the earliest discovered skeleton. It was another example of how humans, for all their genius and progress, still stumbled around the planet, destroying much of the valuable treasures that the world could show us over our arrogance in believing we knew more than the universe could teach. It showed him something that even he had completely missed about Quinn.

As he arrived, he found Cole coming out of an enclosure, dusting himself off. He saw Noah and smiled.

"Wow, you're keen." He stated, noting that Noah was early. "I don't think even Quinn shows up this early."

"Early?" Noah asked, checking his watch and realising that Cole was right. He was almost half an hour early, even for his shift. He just shook his head. "Um...isn't that the tiger enclosure?"

"Yeah, it is." Cole replied as he closed the door and locked it.

"And...you were in there?" Noah asked. "I thought..."

"Yeah, I have kind of a special relationship with the animals here." Cole told him.

"So, Quinn's not here yet?" Noah asked. Just then, as if in answer, Quinn arrived. She was carrying a box of donuts, and a tray, holding some coffees. She came over to Cole, and stopped as she saw Noah, and backed up a little.

"Wow...um...you're here already." She stammered. "Well...I got you some breakfast..."

"That sounds just about perfect." Noah said with a smile as he approached her. "I had a really great time last night."

"So did I." She replied, putting down the food on a nearby bench. "Thanks for letting us have the tickets Mr Evans."

"Tickets?" He asked, not knowing what they were talking about. He hadn't had anything to do with the plan to get Noah and Quinn to spend time together. Emily had gotten the tickets from a contact of Mentor Ji's, and then put them in an envelope saying they were from a sponsor of the wildlife park, and that Cole wanted them to have them because he was doing something. Noah looked to him.

"Those comp tickets to the dinosaur exhibit." Noah reminded him. "You left a note saying we could have them."

Cole still had no idea what they were talking about, but seeing the scene, and remembering how interested Emily was in the wildlife park, he quickly managed to put enough of the pieces together to figure out what had happened. He just decided to play along.

"Yeah, I'm more interested in the animals that are still around." He admitted. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"The coffee's a little cold." Quinn stated, taking a sip of hers. "I'll just put it in the machine and heat it up a little. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As she left, Cole saw the way Noah was watching her leave. He came over, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You know, she has many fine qualities that a lot of young men would find very attractive if they just got to know her." Cole told him.

"That fact hadn't been lost on me." Noah replied. "I really did have a great time with her last night. She's not like a lot of the other girls."

"Don't I know it?" Cole answered as he patted Noah on the shoulder. "Maybe she'd have a wider circle of friends if she didn't spend all her time around here or in the lab. It also helps when she remembers to change her uniform each day...this job does get messy."

"She really is pretty cool." Noah replied, ignoring this last part. Cole could see the expression on Noah's face and just sighed. "I guess it's time to concentrate on work."

"There's plenty of time for that." Cole answered. "You know, I've not really seen Quinn with too many friends...it's good to see her doing something other than work."

"I understand, until recently, I only really hung out with Jake. Even his other friends on the soccer team didn't really get me."

"It can be a bit like that." Cole answered.

"Yeah, it can." Noah told him. "I guess it'd be cool to hang out with her again. I just don't know if she'd go for it."

"Here Noah, let me show you something." He stated, pulling him in the direction of an enclosure. Noah looked inside, seeing some brilliantly coloured tropical birds.

"Um...yeah, they're really nice." Noah stated.

"Do you know why they grow those brightly coloured feathers at the same time each year?" He asked.

"It's a display, to attract a mate." Noah stated. Cole just smiled and nodded, before taking him in another direction. Here, there were some wildcats. He watched as one of the males brought a rat, one of the ones Cole had put in to feed them earlier, and brought it towards a female.

"How about this?" Cole asked.

"He's giving her a gift." Noah replied. "It's a way of demonstrating he can provide, to show her that he'd be a good mate."

Noah just looked to Cole, who was just looking at him.

"Um...was there some point to this?" He asked. Just then, Quinn came back, carrying the coffees and the donuts. She had gotten changed into her uniform, which was freshly cleaned and pressed. Her hair was styled as well as practicality allowed working with animals.

"The coffees are ready." She told them with a bright smile. Cole just patted Noah on the shoulder.

"Think about it." He told him. "I'll just have this in my office; I've got some paperwork to do. We'll get started on opening the park in a little while."

"OK Mr Evans." Quinn replied, sitting with Noah. She offered him the box of donuts.

"You choose first." He insisted.

"So...do you think the school will have a field trip to the museum?" She asked. Noah just nodded.

"I overheard one of the trustees saying that Dr Hartford made it a condition of lending them his collection, all the local schools get to see it for free." He told her. "Um...so are you ready for school starting back next week?"

"Yeah, I've actually been looking forward to it." She told him. "I know, it's sad but..."

"No, I completely understand." Noah insisted. She handed him his coffee.

"Nice and hot." She told him. "There's cream and sugar..."

"It's fine." Noah insisted. "I really did have a great time last night. Maybe we could hang out again some time?"

"I'd really like that." She answered, taking a sip of her coffee. Noah just smiled and turned his attention to his breakfast.

In another part of town, Gia and Emma came down into the Living Room, finding Mr Goodall reading the newspaper. He had a selection of pancakes and waffles sitting out, with just about every possible condiment option he could think of. Fresh coffee was in the pot, waiting for them. As they came into the room, he could see the way they were looking at him.

"Um...I made breakfast." He told them. "I thought I'd take a personal day. Wayne can handle anything at the office. It's been a while since we all just spent the day together."

"You made breakfast?" Emma asked him sceptically.

"Yeah, I did." He replied. "Why?"

"Because we never heard the smoke alarm." Gia answered.

"Gia, I might not be Gordon Ramsay, but I think I can work a waffle..." His words tailed off as he saw Emma open the trash can and pull out a box. "...iron, OK, so I bought it when I went for the paper. It's the thought that counts right?"

Emma and Gia just looked at each other, before sitting down with the meal. Eric just looked at them both a little uncomfortably as he tried to figure out their mood. The previous night had not ended at all how he would have liked. It was obvious from their reaction that the girls had seen him and Louise. He hadn't kept a track of time, too caught up in his time with Louise, meaning that the girls had walked in on them. They had gone off to bed shortly afterwards, but it was clear that they had seen them. They just didn't want to talk about it then.

"So, is there anything you'd like to do today?" He asked them. Neither of them answered. He just started pouring them both coffee, before stopping. "Look, I think it's important that we talk about what happened last night."

"Last night?" Gia asked innocently.

"Look, I know that this is...I don't think you understand..."

"We're 17; I think we get what was going on." Gia told him. Eric just groaned in exasperation.

"You know what I mean." He stated as he shifted a little awkwardly. "Look, we don't have to talk about it now, but we really should..."

"Hey!" Emma called out, reaching over the table and snatching the newspaper from the table near her dad. She unfolded it, looking at the front page. "Gia, check this out!"

"Um...girls..."

"No way!" Gia called out, seeing the headline. "Robo Knight takes down mutant?"

"It says here, he stopped a mutant from destroying a tanker of chemicals leaving a Queen plant." Emma told her. "It says that he averted another environmental catastrophe...Queen is facing about seven lawsuits based on the contents of that one truck alone...Robo Knight's being called a hero!"

"Um...yeah, the battle was on the television late last night." He informed them. "I really think we should..."

"I'll call Troy, you call Jake." Emma told her. "We'll meet them at the Brainfreeze..."

"Girls, wait!" Eric called after them as they grabbed some waffles and ran out the door, dialling their cell phones. He just sighed and held his head in his hands. "Well, that went well."

Over at the Brainfreeze, Jordan arrived, carrying a stack of newspapers. The television was, as usual, showing the news, which seemed to have some of the footage from the previous nights' battle scrolling. He saw that Cat was on duty, setting up for the morning.

"Hey Cat." He greeted her.

"Jordan! You're..." She looked around, seeing that they were alone. "You're back! Like...really back?"

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" He said in answer to her. "Though I have to admit, I would kill for some pancakes. My...uh...other suit might have fed me, but nothing compares to real food!"

"I'll see what I can do." Cat told him with a little wink. "Nice work last night by the way."

"Thanks." He said as she went to get his order. "So, where are Theo and Luen?"

"They're packing." Cat informed him, beginning to prepare some batter. "Ernie's almost back to full health, so they're going back to Ocean Bluff tomorrow."

He started to spread out the newspapers on the counter, checking them out. He read the first, declaring the "new and improved" Robo Knight to be a hero, with a huge grin on his face. It wasn't the first story about him, but he wasn't used to such positive press. He knew that getting people to like him and becoming popular wasn't really the point of being a Ranger, but he had to admit, it felt good.

He sighed as he came across another paper, which had the headline asking where the Rangers were. He wished he knew...he never expected to have to face down Molestar alone, but it meant that he had a chance to show that he was back, and this time, he wasn't going to cause more harm than good. Another gave him grudging props for his success, but was still quick to point out the damage he caused to the baseball stadium, and asking when he would suddenly 'break down' again. He had to admit that it was a legitimate fear, one that he couldn't really convince anyone was unfounded without revealing who he was, something that defeated the whole point of a secret identity.

"You'll never get rid of all the haters." Troy stated, causing Jordan to look around. "So, busy night?"

"Busy...um...how long was I out?" Jordan asked.

"Let's just say, summer break's over soon." Troy told him.

"So where were you guys?" Jordan asked. "Why didn't you come to help?"

"We would have if someone had called us." Jake stated. "Do we have to go over the whole teamwork thing again?"

"Wait...Gosei didn't call you?" Jordan asked.

"Do you really think we'd have let you have all the fun if we'd known?" Gia asked. "We were too busy trying to help Noah and Quinn out."

"They've already had that date?" Jordan asked.

"You missed quite a bit dude." Jake told him as they all sat with him.

"Yeah, a lot's been going on." Emma grumbled, looking a little less than happy. Troy just looked to her, putting his arm around her.

"You OK?" He asked. She just shook her head.

"I'll explain later." She told him. "Let's deal with one Ranger crisis at a time alright?"

"Sorry about the whole lockdown thing." Troy told Jordan.

"Its fine, you had to do it." Jordan replied.

"So, what happened in there?" Jake asked him as Cat presented Jordan with a huge stack of pancakes. "I heard Gosei say they locked you in a library?"

"The Library of Zordon." Jordan said with a nod.

"Zordon, as in...Gosei's mentor?" Gia asked him. Jordan was about to correct her, when he suddenly got a thought. He had seen a lot in the Library, learned much of what came before, including things he didn't even know about himself. Gosei, for all his faults, and his less than warm treatment of them, had in many ways always done right by them, even when he did mistreat them. He always had something in mind, and always seemed to act, when all was said and done, for the greater good. He had a feeling that if Gosei wanted the team to know what he had learned, then he would have opened the Library long ago. He wasn't sure if it was just out of his own personal privacy, or if he didn't feel it was in the Rangers' best interests to know some of the things the Eltarians had been responsible for, but for some reason, he didn't feel like it was right to divulge what he had learned. Not until Gosei did so himself at any rate.

"Yeah, that's right." Jordan told them. "It contains memories of the past...things that the Eltarians, the previous Rangers have done."

"Wow, that must have been amazing!" Troy stated. "Just think what you could have seen! What was it like?"

"To be honest, I didn't get much of a chance to look around." He replied semi-truthfully. He had only seen a few memories from literally billions in the Library. The ones he had seen though, he knew would shed a lot of light for the team on Gosei's actions. "I had to fix my...I mean...the Robo Knight's memories. Then...I had to destroy the Robo Knight's base program."

"You...you destroyed them?" Jake asked. "Isn't that a bad thing?"

"It depends how you look at it." Jordan answered with a shrug. "Now, it's all up to me. I guess that just means more training."

"Well, it's great to have you back." Gia replied. "Cat, how about some more coffees over here when you're ready?"

"Coming right up." She chimed in cheerfully. As she left, Jordan just sighed.

"We're training again today aren't we?" He grumbled.

"Being a Ranger's about more than just getting in the newspapers." Troy told him. "Besides, you have a lot of catching up to do."

Jordan just nodded and went back to his breakfast. He had gone on an incredible journey, but at the end, he found himself somewhere he never expected to be. Even though he was back with his friends, even though he was back in the real world, somewhere he wasn't sure he'd ever see again, he couldn't help thinking about the Library, and what it offered. It had the memories of everyone connected to Zordon; it had every answer he could ever want. He'd already learned many of them, but he'd inadvertently found one memory that connected to his own life. So many questions, so many things he wanted to know, and all the answers were within reach. He never thought he'd find himself in that position, having fought so hard to get out, now he couldn't think of anything but getting back in.

Fin!

A/N: I am well aware the schools are probably already back in the States, I'm just a little behind. It'll happen, but there is one little story to take care of first.


End file.
